Drone shot of South Beach shows just how accurate GTA VI is
- The trailer, which dropped this week, confirmed Vice City as the location for GTA VI
- One content creator shared his drone shot of Miami Beach
- In a side by side, the pair are almost identical
Published on Dec 08, 2023 at 3:31 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Dec 11, 2023 at 1:31 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Alessandro Renesis
When the trailer for GTA VI dropped earlier this week – the location of Vice City was confirmed.
It had long been suspected that would be where main gameplay would take place due to leaks.
Then the 1 December trailer announcement added fuel to that fire due to the palm tree motifs.
READ MORE! The real reason GTA VI trailer was released a day early
Its skyline and beaches have long had fans of GTA believing that Vice City is based on the city of Miami.
And this week’s trailer from Rockstar contained more crumbs to add to that suspicion.
However content creator, Joel Franco, took to Instagram to share how similar the real-life Miami is to its fictional counterpart.
He shot sunny images of South Beach with palm trees and high-rise buildings in the background.
These were shot in real life using a drone.


However, put them side by side with footage of Vice Beach from GTA VI – and you can scarcely tell them apart.
In fact, his followers seemed to think that Vice Beach looked more like Miami Beach than the real world Miami Beach.
“Rockstar really did their homework on this one,” said one.
“Real one needs a graphics update,” said a second.
“They even copied the plane that flies around with the Club Space banner,” said another.

The banner in question sparked wild speculation this week about the drop date for the game itself.
While we know GTA VI is coming in 2025, the banner reads: “Why Sixty Nine When You Can Nine 1 Nine?”
Fans believed it was an Easter egg.
9.19.2025 Mark my Words,” one said.
“9/19/25 CONFIRMED,” a second confirmed.


“9th September 2025?” chimed yet another.
However, one sceptic debunked the theory.
“Its a reference of E11even Miami, a really famous club in Miami,” they said.
“This has to be an E11even parody,” confirmed another.
Rockstar confirmed in the trailer footage that the state is called ‘Leonida’.


Since Vice City is inspired by Miami, it suggests the fictional state is based on Florida.
It’s a reference to Spanish explorer, Juan Ponce de León, who led the first European expedition to Florida in 1513.
The reference now makes a lot of sense.
“Only in Leonida” seemed to refer to the “Only in Florida” trope – and there’s even a ‘Leonida man’.
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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”