Seven years after the launch of GTA 5, Rockstar Games released what is arguably the biggest map expansion for its satirical SoCal playground.
The new region’s called Cayo Perico, an island completely separate from the main San Andreas map of GTA Online.
One of the main things people want to know though is exactly how big this new island is and how it compares to San Andreas.
Let's find.
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How big is Cayo Perico?
Looking at the larger SoCal area on Google Maps (Los Santos being Rockstar’s version of L.A.), Cayo Perico appears to be a highly fictionalized version of either Santa Catalina Island or San Clemente Island.
Given what we’ve seen in the two teasers on Rockstar’s YouTube channel and Twitter, this is a sort of drug-lord compound — Breaking Bad dialed up to GTA volumes.
Over at GTAforums.com, using the imagery shown so far, a number of users have pieced together rough sketches of what the map is likely to look like in-game. And it’s small; don’t expect Los Santos 2.0 until GTA 6. But it does promise a social space, a large underwater submarine base, and gorgeous tropical scenery. It looks comparable in scope to Blaine County, albeit denser.
A couple of questions remain beside the island’s size. First of all, will this be something we have to load into by taking a plane trip (separate from Los Santos)? And will we have access to it in free roam, passive mode, and so forth — or is it only a heist location?
If Rockstar’s been paying attention to its player base, they ought to know that folks love to free roam. They want to role-play, and have “car meets” where they snap screenshots and show off their rides, and explore. Hopefully, Cayo Perico facilitates the things GTA players love best.
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The Cayo Perico heist
“On Tuesday, December 15, GTA Online raises the stakes once again with its biggest update yet: the Cayo Perico Heist, featuring an all-new exotic location and a brand-new approach to heist design that for the first time will let players tackle the entire heist solo or with a crew of up to three other players,” Rockstar said in an email.
“Along with the challenge of finding a way to infiltrate and rob one of the most secure private islands in the world, players can also expect new social spaces to party with friends, new world-class DJs, and radio stations with over 100 new songs, plus a host of vehicles and weapons, a heavily armed submarine HQ, and much more.”
A standalone release of GTA Online is expected to launch in 2021, along with new versions of GTA 5 optimized for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.