From October 15, the city that inspired Vice City will have a bit of actual Vice City on its sand. Rockstar's GTA 6 marketing campaign is coming to Miami Beach, and it runs through to the end of the year. The catch: it's confined to private beach gear.
Beebom and games.gg both report that the Miami Beach Commission signed off on the deal, but not without a fight. The vote came down 4-3 in favour, after more than half an hour of commissioners arguing about whether the city should tie its name to a game built around crime. Commissioner David Suarez, one of the three who voted no, reportedly pulled up footage from the GTA 6 extended look mid-meeting and pointed at scenes of violence against police.
What they actually agreed to
Not much, is the honest answer. Rockstar is said to be spending around $3 million on the campaign, but the branding is boxed in hard: only the "VI" and "Vice City" marks, and only on private beach equipment. Boucher Brothers, the firm that runs the loungers and umbrellas along the beachfront, will put the GTA 6 logo on its chairs and parasols. No billboards, no city signage, no takeover of the actual public beach.
So if you're on Miami Beach between October 15 and December 31, the GTA 6 presence will be a logo on the umbrella you rented for the afternoon. That's it.
The bit that's funny
There's something daft about Miami Beach getting precious over a series that turned the city into one of gaming's most recognisable backdrops. Vice City is Miami. The 1986 original and GTA 6's Leonida are both love letters to the place, neon and all. A few commissioners spent half an hour relitigating the "Hot Coffee" era before clearing a deal that amounts to branded sun loungers.
And here's the thing Rockstar knows better than anyone: GTA 6 does not need the ad. The game lands November 19 and is already the most pre-ordered thing on the calendar. The umbrellas are a nice touch, not a sales driver. If you spot one in December, that's the extent of it.
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