Vice City in 2002 and 2026: what GTA 6 kept from GTA Vice City and what it changed

Vice City, Grand Theft Auto’s take on Miami, first appeared in the original 1997 game, but GTA Vice City in 2002 is what made it famous. That game sent Tommy Vercetti to 1986. GTA 6 brings the series back on November 19, 2026, and Rockstar’s own description draws the line: “We’re a long way from the ’80s, but Vice City is still the sun and fun capital of America” (Rockstar).

GTA Vice City in brief

The game came out on PS2 on October 29, 2002 in North America and November 8 in Europe, with PC and Xbox versions in 2003. It’s set in 1986. Tommy Vercetti, voiced by Ray Liotta, gets out of prison after fifteen years and is sent to Vice City to oversee a drug deal. The deal is ambushed, and while hunting for whoever set it up, Tommy builds a criminal empire of his own.

Rockstar drew on Scarface and Miami Vice, and the team did field research in Miami. The city was two main islands that opened up as the story went on. The game scored 95 on Metacritic, became the best-selling game of 2002 and has sold more than 17.5 million copies (Wikipedia).

Vice City in 2026

In GTA 6, Vice City is the main city of Leonida, the game’s version of Florida, with five more regions around it, from the Leonida Keys in the south to Mount Kalaga National Park on the northern border. Rockstar told The New York Times that Leonida is three times the playable area of Red Dead Redemption 2, and Rob Nelson told Flow Games that Vice City alone is about twice the size of Los Santos from GTA 5.

It’s set in the present day, “the glamour, hustle, and greed of America captured in a single city,” in Rockstar’s words. Instead of one lead there are two. Lucia, like Tommy, starts her story in prison, and Jason works for drug runners in the Keys. Tommy built an empire; Jason and Lucia, judging by the interviews, want a house and to clear their debts.

Neighborhoods you’ll recognize

Rockstar names four parts of Vice City: Ocean Beach with its pastel art deco hotels and white sand, Little Cuba and its bustling panaderías, the Tisha-Wocka flea market with its bootleg brands, and VC Port, “the cruise ship capital of the world.” Most of them have a 2002 counterpart.

• Ocean Beach: in 2002 it was the southern district of the beach island, with art deco hotels along Ocean Drive (GTA Wiki). The name and the style are back.
• Washington Beach: another district on the old beach island. In GTA 6, Rockstar mentions it in the description of the Ultimate Edition’s Shitzu Squalo, which is docked there.
• Little Havana became Little Cuba. The 2002 Cuban neighborhood took the name of the real one in Miami.
• Viceport became VC Port, now pitched as a cruise port.
• The Tisha-Wocka flea market is new.

Other 2002 districts, such as Vice Point, Starfish Island, Prawn Island, Little Haiti and Escobar International Airport, haven’t come up in Rockstar’s official GTA 6 material yet.

The Ocean View Hotel is back

In GTA Vice City, the Ocean View Hotel on Ocean Drive was Tommy’s first safehouse. You saved at the lobby desk, changed clothes in the suite upstairs, and weapons for collecting hidden packages turned up in the hallway (GTA Wiki).

A hotel with the same sign is already visible in the first GTA 6 trailer, on an Ocean Drive-style street. According to GTA Wiki, it’s modeled on the Clevelander Hotel on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach. The picture at the top of this article is an official Vintage Vice City screenshot of Jason and Lucia in ’80s outfits under the hotel’s neon sign. Rockstar hasn’t said whether it’s a safehouse again.

What else came back

• Flash FM. In 1986 Toni hosted it, and it played the pop hits of the day (GTA Wiki). In GTA 6 Rockstar calls it “the Vice City institution,” now hosted by Robyn and Alex (all the stations).
• Six wanted stars. Vice City topped out at six stars, with helicopters and the army. GTA 5 had five, and GTA 6 goes back to six.
• Businesses. Tommy bought a film studio, a taxi firm and clubs, and each paid out once he finished its missions. GTA 6 has businesses and properties too.
• ’80s style. The Vintage Vice City pack, for everyone who buys before November 20, includes a linen suit for Jason, a sequin dress for Lucia, the ’55 Vapid Stanier with a garage in Shore Court, and a tropical weapon finish that looks a lot like Tommy’s Hawaiian shirt.

What changed

• The era. The 2002 game parodied ’80s crime films. GTA 6, as Wikipedia puts it, parodies 2020s American culture, social media included.
• The heroes. Tommy worked alone. GTA 6 has two leads, and you can switch between them.
• The size. The 2002 city covered two islands. The 2026 Vice City is one part of a whole state.
• The music. In 2002 the radio was licensed ’80s hits, released on seven albums. For GTA 6 Rockstar promises the biggest radio selection in the series, on-demand podcasts and an album of 34 original songs.

For the real places behind today’s Vice City and Leonida, see our guide to GTA 6 real-life locations.