Rockstar teases GTA 6 release with real-life Miami marketing stunts

GTA 6 launches in less than a month and no one is more keenly aware of that fact than Rockstar, who have unleashed a variety of marketing ploys to transform Miami into Vice City.

Miami is the main source of inspiration for Vice City, and as we’ve learned, this even extends to an innovative weather system to reflect Florida’s ever-changing environment.

As for the game's promotional campaign (if it really needed one), supercars have been seen flaunting the streets, Vice City police cars have been patrolling the area, and there’s even been in-game fast food spots popping up across the city.

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Inside Miami’s Kaseya Center, both Burger Shot and Cluckin' Bell have opened for business, so you can get a taste of Leonida’s culinary offerings even before Jason and Lucia.

And, what’s more, the NBA team Miami Heat is scheduled to be renamed Vice City in a meta-marketing strategy that will take place on 18 November, just one day before the game officially launches.

It appears that for Miami residents GTA 6 is inescapable. But besides the supercars and fast-food chains there are a myriad of GTA visuals to take in, including blimps, buses and taxis all advertising fictional brands, radio stations and clubs.

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There is so much to see, it’s almost an assault on the eyes in what appears to be Rockstar’s attempt to match the marketing budget of Halo 3 (which was, by the way, a whopping $40 million).

However, the custom Vice City supercars cruising around the city are undeniably cool, featuring a Lamborghini adorned in Vice Beach Police livery alongside GTA’s own Coquette car. All, of course, with their own private Vice City number plates.

This level of commitment and creativity is admirable, in what is surely one of the biggest marketing stunts for a game in recent years.

But not everyone is happy, Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz and Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez released a joint statement, which read: "We should be promoting the Miami-Dade we have worked so hard to build, not a fictional version of our community defined by crime and violence."

The release ended with one final sentence, "Miami-Dade County is not Vice City."

Despite this, it seems that most people online are having fun, but with a seemingly endless amount of stunts it’s understandable that Rockstar has managed to strike a nerve.

Grand Theft Auto VI will release on 19 November.

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