GTA 6 takes over Miami as Vice City, and Miami-Dade pushes back

Rockstar is turning Miami into Vice City a month before GTA 6 launches. As of October 20, 2026, the campaign includes a "Welcome to Vice City" sign on the Kaseya Center, branded beach chairs and umbrellas, a Goodyear blimp, plane banners and real cars styled after in-game vehicles. It has also split Miami-Dade County's government, and the County Commission was scheduled to vote on October 20 on whether the mayor's staff can keep negotiating with Rockstar. The result had not been reported when this article was published.

What Rockstar has put on Miami's streets#

• A sign on the Heat's arena. Fortune reports that a helicopter lowered a giant pink "Welcome to Vice City" sign onto the county-owned Kaseya Center on September 22, under a $975,000 agreement with Rockstar.
• Beach chairs and umbrellas. Miami Beach approved a deal worth up to $4 million in a 4-3 vote on September 10, branding beach chairs and umbrellas from October 15 through December 31, Fortune says. Vice reports hundreds of them across Miami Beach.
• A Vice City blimp. Goodyear's blimp now wears Vice City branding and is due at Homestead-Miami Speedway for NASCAR's championship weekend, November 7 to 9, Motorsport.com reported on Yahoo Sports.
• Real cars styled after in-game vehicles. A convoy with license plates from Leonida, the game's fictional state, has been seen around Miami. Vice lists a Vice City Police Lamborghini and cars resembling the Coquette, Cheetah, Tempesta, Emerus, Manana and Buccaneer. West Coast Customs built them, and on November 6 Hypebeast published Rockstar's in-game shot of each next to the real car (added November 7); our GTA 6 cars guide lists the six.
• Plane banners. Planes have flown NINE1NINE banners over South Beach, another piece of the game, Vice says.
• The city, the Heat and Wynwood. The City of Miami approved temporary banners worth up to $1.2 million. On November 18, the Heat play the Milwaukee Bucks as Vice City, on a one-night court and in new uniforms, per Fortune and the team. Through a Rockstar partnership, Wynwood Walls offers Miami-Dade residents free entry through 2028, Fortune reports.
• Real GTA beers (added October 31). A Doral brewery started selling Pißwasser, Patriot and a No Mames Vice City lager in cans around Miami on October 30; details in GTA 6 beer.
• Burger Shot and Cluckin' Bell. Inside the Kaseya Center, food stands have been rebranded as the series' two restaurant chains, with themed packaging, uniforms and a Macca & Friends mural, GameSpot reports. Our Burger Shot story has the prices and what is still unconfirmed.

Why county officials pushed back#

The fight began with the county's own pitch. On June 29, officials sent Rockstar ideas for county property, including a Vice City arrival experience at Miami International Airport, wrapped Metromover cars and a PortMiami mural, The Miamian reported after a public records request. The mayor's office said nothing had been formally agreed to or approved.

On September 3, Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz and Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez urged the county not to use public resources on the game, Fortune reports. Bermudez said the county should promote "the Miami-Dade we have worked so hard to build, not a fictional version of our community defined by crime and violence." Their statement ended: "Miami-Dade County is not Vice City."

At a commission meeting in early October, Commissioner René Garcia objected to a "game that's depicting Miami like a crime haven; Miami like a murder capital," The Miamian reported. Chairman Anthony Rodriguez, who sponsored the item authorizing the talks, replied, "This is a fictional game," according to GameSpot, and the mayor's chief of staff, Chris Hudtwalcker, called the campaign a "love letter" to the city. Commissioner Oliver Gilbert then used a procedural move to delay a vote that could have ended the talks.

The Miami Herald's account of the same meeting adds two details: Commissioner Micky Steinberg said "Philosophically, I feel we should not be moving forward," and after the authorizing legislation stalled, commissioners voted to require that any GTA deal above $1 million return to the board, a rule county policy already imposed. Rodriguez said of the outcome, "We cut our nose to spite our face."

What the October 20 vote decides#

The mayor can approve deals under $1 million without a commission vote, which is how the $975,000 sign went ahead. Any agreement above that line must come back to the board, Fortune reports, and GameSpot says the mayor's office wants more deals at sites such as the airport and seaport. Fortune frames the October 20 question as whether the county gets paid for the exposure or keeps public property out of the campaign. This article will be updated with the result. As of October 22, 2026, no outlet we follow has reported the outcome of the October 20 meeting.

Vice City is Rockstar's stand-in for Miami, down to a Wynwood-inspired district called Stockyard, Fortune notes. Our map guide covers the rest of Leonida, and the first GTA 6 TV commercial aired on October 20, 2026. GTA 6 launches November 19, 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.