Rockstar Games has detailed Grassrivers, a wetland region in GTA 6 modeled on Florida’s Everglades, ahead of the game’s November 19 release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S.
Key points
- Grassrivers sits in southern Leonida, just north of the Leonida Keys, and is the state's largest wilderness biome.
- Rockstar says the region holds more than 170 animal species, including alligators, flamingos, pelicans and manatees.
- Airboats, available from Airgator storefronts, are needed to cross the swamps, marshes and mangrove forests.
- Named locations include Paradise Garage, Watson Bay Town, Port Watson and the Bite House restaurant.
- GTA 6 launches November 19, 2026 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S.
The region matters to players mapping out the open world before launch, since it marks one of the more hostile corners of the state of Leonida and requires different vehicles and tactics than the game’s urban areas. Rockstar describes it as the “untamable jewel of Leonida’s crown,” a phrase that signals how central the swamp is meant to be to the state’s identity.
Where Grassrivers Sits on the Map
Grassrivers occupies the southern third of Leonida, positioned just above the Leonida Keys. According to Rockstar’s location copy, the area is built from mangroves, swamps, rivers and marshes rather than roads, which makes most standard cars useless there. The region reportedly stretches across both Vice-Dale County and Kelly County, making it the largest wilderness biome in the game.
Rockstar’s official description leans into that danger: “You never know what lies beneath the surface of this primordial expanse. The gators may be the most famous attraction, but there are far deadlier predators and weirder discoveries among the mangroves.” The company has not specified what those other predators are.
Wildlife and the 170-Species Count
Grassrivers is home to alligators, flamingos, pelicans and manatees, according to Rockstar, among an overall count the company puts at more than 170 animal species across Leonida. That figure, detailed in a breakdown of GTA 6’s confirmed animal list, includes more than 60 bird species and over 30 land mammals alongside fish and reptiles. Rockstar has separately named green iguanas, cane toads, feral cats and rhesus macaque monkeys as part of the broader Florida-inspired fauna, plus sharks, jellyfish, whales, turtles and rays in the surrounding waters.
The scale of the animal roster has been a recurring talking point since Rockstar’s Game Informer cover story published in late September, which first laid out the species count. Not everything in that total has been individually confirmed; much of the list beyond the named species comes from players spotting animals in screenshots and trailers rather than from an official roster.
Getting Around: Airboats and Key Landmarks
Because cars cannot handle the swampy terrain, players will need an airboat to move through Grassrivers. Rockstar’s screenshots show the Airgator Airboat 09, which the company has tied to alligator hunting and fishing in the region, and these boats can be rented or purchased from Airgator storefronts scattered across the wetlands.
Rockstar has revealed a handful of named locations within Grassrivers so far:
- Paradise Garage
- Watson Bay Town
- Wetlands
- Mangrove forests
- Marshlands
- Wildlife reserves
- Airgator Airboats
- Bite House restaurant
- Hamlet Water Tower
- Port Watson
Beyond the swamp itself, GTA 6 marketing has already spilled into the real world, including a recent stunt in which the Miami Heat rebranded as Vice City for a November game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Who Lives in the Swamp
Rockstar has not named any playable characters tied specifically to Grassrivers. Based on screenshots released so far, the region appears to be home to hunters, and players who take up hunting, one of the game’s confirmed activities, are likely to run into them.
The Grassrivers name echoes “River of Grass,” a phrase long associated with the real Everglades, and Rockstar has leaned into regional flavor shaped by Creole, Cajun and African-American influences for the area. The game’s weather system adds another layer of risk, with localized, persistent conditions that include hurricanes bringing heavy cloud cover and strong winds.
Grassrivers is one of six named regions on the Leonida map, alongside Vice City, the Leonida Keys, Port Gellhorn, Ambrosia and Mount Kalaga National Park. Rockstar has said the full map is roughly twice the size of GTA 5’s, and ahead of launch the publisher has kept promoting the title in unusual ways, including pitchside ads that appeared during El Clasico. More detail on Grassrivers is expected once the game ships on November 19.
