GTA 6 Turns Miami into Vice City with a $975,000 Rooftop Sign

Rockstar Games has apparently decided that advertising GTA 6 on billboards simply isn’t dramatic enough. The studio has now put up a giant “Welcome to Vice City” sign on top of Miami on top of Miami’s Kaseya Center, and the whole stunt is costing a reported $975,000. Yes, almost a million dollars to essentially tell Miami that Vice City has arrived.

The massive pink-and-white sign was installed on the roof of the Kaseya Center on September 22, with a helicopter lifting the letters into position before workers secured them to the central area. The venue fits accurately because it is home to the Miami Heat and sits in downtown Miami, making the promotion highly visible from the air.

According to the agreement reports, Miami-Dade County is set to receive $975,000 from Rockstar for this aggressive GTA 6 marketing promotion. Earlier county discussions also reportedly explored other GTA 6-themed ideas, including temporarily branding parts of Miami International Airport as “Vice City Airport.” However, the Miami Sheriff turned down this GTA 6 campaign as it promoted violence against law enforcement officers.

It seems like Rockstar is physically placing the game’s fictional version of Miami into the real city’s skyline. The campaign is also arriving as Take-Two’s CEO talks about pushing GTA 6 marketing to the next level.

Meanwhile, the Miami deal has not been completely free of controversy. Some Miami-Dade officials questioned whether public property should be used to promote a game centered around criminal activity and violence.

However, the connection between Vice City and Miami goes beyond the latest marketing push. For years, the real city has embraced references to the franchise as GTA-themed souvenirs, and fan-created art has become a part of Miami’s pop culture. For Rockstar, the message is pretty straightforward. GTA 6 is coming to Vice City, and Vice City is coming to Miami first.