GTA cities ranked: From Vice City to Leonida, where open-world chaos and satire reign

When it comes to crafting immersive open worlds, Rockstar Games is a master at engineering cultural ecosystems. Each Grand Theft Auto locale is more than a backdrop for mayhem. These cities are a living, breathing sandbox with its own rules, rhythm, and twisted charm. Whether it’s the neon-soaked streets of Vice City or the smog-choked skyline of Liberty, these cities are the game. Let’s take a stroll – probably while five stars deep – through the most iconic cities in GTA history.

Liberty City

Based on: New York City
Key Appearances: GTA (1997), GTA III, GTA Advance, Liberty City Stories, GTA IV, Chinatown Wars

Liberty City is the OG sandbox of sin, debuting in 1997 and evolving over the years into Rockstar’s gritty love letter to New York. It’s a city that feels like it’s constantly exhaling cigarette smoke and corruption. With five main boroughs – Broker (Brooklyn), Algonquin (Manhattan), Dukes (Queens), Bohan (The Bronx), and Alderney (New Jersey) – Liberty is all about urban density and layered social tension. 

In GTA III, Liberty set the tone for modern open-world games. But it was GTA IV where it truly became iconic. Rain-slicked streets, a satirical media ecosystem, and one of the most nuanced protagonists (shoutout to Niko Bellic) gave Liberty City a narrative weight that few games have matched since. It’s a cold, calculating place, perfect for stories about ambition, betrayal, and the American Dream gone sideways. 

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Vice City

Based on: Miami, Florida
Key Appearances: GTA (1997), Vice City, Vice City Stories, GTA 6 (2025, expected as a part of Leonida state)

Vice City is Rockstar’s take on Miami. But not just any Miami. We’re talking Scarface Miami, Miami Vice Miami. Introduced in the original GTA and cemented in GTA: Vice City (2002), this neon-drenched paradise is equal parts tropical beauty and criminal underbelly. 

In its original form, Vice City was a pastel playground. You had beachfront condos, pulsing nightclubs, speedboats, and enough synthwave to cause spontaneous aviator sunglasses to form on your face. Districts like Little Haiti, Little Havana, and Downtown gave the map cultural flavor and geographical contrast. 

But with GTA 6 shifting the timeline to 2025, Vice is getting a modern facelift as part of the larger Leonida state. The vibe? Florida on steroids. Influencers, gators, gated communities, and government corruption all swirling into what looks like Rockstar’s most dynamic city yet. It is going to be a cocktail of glitz and chaos in equal measure. 

San Andreas

Based on: California and Nevada
Key Appearances: GTA: San Andreas (2004), GTA V (2013)

San Andreas is less a city and more a digital continent given its legacy and the fact that it has featured in multiple GTA titles across generations. First appearing in GTA: San Andreas in 2004, it drew from California and Nevada to build three distinct cities – Los Santos (Los Angeles), San Fierro (San Francisco), and Las Venturas (Las Vegas) – plus a massive countryside to link it all together. This was the first time we got a GTA world that felt truly open, where you could jet from urban chaos to rural calm and back again without hitting a loading screen.

Los Santos is the crown jewel here, evolving dramatically in GTA V (2013). This version of San Andreas is a full-on satire of modern California. You’ve got Vinewood (Hollywood), Rockford Hills (Beverly Hills), and Davis (Compton), not to mention the off-the-grid madness of Blaine County. You’ll pass homeless camps under freeway overpasses, and minutes later, you’re parked outside a multi-million dollar mansion.

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The map is wildly diverse. You have mountains, deserts, forests, and an ocean that’s actually worth exploring. Rockstar’s California is a land of extremes, from gang wars to yoga classes, street races to Silicon Valley parody. GTA V made Los Santos feel alive in a way that set a new benchmark for open-world design. 

Anywhere City

Based on: It’s more of a futuristic fusion of American cities
Key Appearance: GTA 2 (1999)

Anywhere City is the forgotten stepchild of the GTA universe. Featured only in GTA 2, it’s set in a weirdly vague “near-future” timeline, with a mix of gang warfare, dystopian architecture, and weird cult factions. You can say it is a love child, born out of wedlock between RoboCop and Max Headroom, with a pixelated filter. 

Even though it never got the 3D treatment, it still feels significant. The whole place is corporate-dominated and morally bankrupt, setting the tone for the satirical world-building Rockstar would perfect in later games. It’s like Liberty City if you turned the corruption up to 11 and slapped a neon sheen on it. 

London

Based on: Can you guess?
Key Appearances: GTA: London 1969, GTA: London 1961

Before jetting around fictional America, GTA took a pitstop in swinging ’60s Britain. GTA: London 1969 and its prequel, London 1961, dropped players into a groovy version of England’s capital. Red phone boxes, double-decker buses, and cockney gangsters were the name of the game. 

It was cheeky, experimental, and full of mods on mopeds. While it lacked the depth of later titles, it brought a refreshing cultural shift and proved GTA could work outside the U.S. It’s long overdue for a modern reboot. Hopefully, when GTA 7 hits the shelves, we will see London make a reappearance. Hopefully.

Leonida

Based on: Florida
Key Appearance: GTA 6 (2025, expected)

Leonida is the latest evolution in Rockstar’s sandbox saga. It’s a full state inspired by Florida and all its glorious, chaotic contradictions. Vice City returns as the jewel of the map, but it’s just one part of a broader, more dynamic world. You’ve got Everglades-like swamps, rural trailer parks, sunburned suburbs, and crime-ridden metropoles all stitched together in a beautifully broken tapestry. 

With GTA 6’s take on Vice City, Leonida is poised to be a fully living world. It is rumoured to react to player choices, is set to feature more persistent NPC behaviours, and has an evolving media and economic ecosystem. Vice City’s neon heart still beats strong, but now it pulses alongside TikTok culture, influencer satire, and a healthy dose of Florida Man energy. 

With GTA 6, Rockstar isn’t just building a city. They’re simulating a whole dysfunctional society. Leonida promises to be the most immersive and reactive GTA world to date, and honestly? We’re so ready to lose ourselves in it. 

Wrapping up...

From Liberty’s oppressive skyline to San Andreas’ sprawling coastlines, each GTA city offers a unique flavour of open-world anarchy. Each city in the GTA universe has its own personality. Each mocking and mirroring our own world in some beautifully broken way. And as we edge closer to Leonida’s release, it will be interesting to see how the new world in the GTA universe shapes up. 

Until then, whether you’re a underworld mastermind, a chaos tourist, or just here for the vibes, one thing’s for sure – in GTA, the city is the story.