The wetlands biome styled after the Everglades is easily the most novel terrain found in any GTA yet. Rockstar has never crafted a true swamp environment before, and judging from trailers, it looks like it takes up a significant portion of the GTA 6 map. This isn't meant to be just a tiny area used for set dressing. It's an actual biome that has its own rules for traversal and gameplay mechanics.
This is the Leonida region most likely to surprise you if you walked in expecting GTA 5 painted in Florida colours.
Where the wetlands sit
Inland from Vice City, north and west of downtown. The wetlands actually take up a significant portion of central Leonida - this is not your average mosquito-infested bog, this is a full-fledged biome. Trailer 2 showed extensive footage of it, featuring what appeared to be a multi-minute airboat chase.
The landscape changes: dense Vice City sprawl eventually turns to suburbs, those suburbs fade into scattered rural towns, and past them lie the wetlands themselves. Brace yourself for long drives through this transition - the kind of slow, atmospheric build Rockstar loves to cue up before a mission.
Airboats and waterway traversal
Roads are of little use where the wetland grows thick. The trailer gives us the answer: airboats - flat-bottomed boats with fans mounted on the rear, tailor-made for gliding through shallow swamp waters. This is a new vehicle class for GTA. Expect special airboat controls, missions centred around airboats, and airboat races and chases baked right into the standard loop.
Helicopters and light aircraft will play their part too. The geography of the wetlands favours aerial scouting and long-range hops over crawling by boat.
Alligators and dynamic wildlife
Trailer 2 showed a dead-on shot of an alligator. This is the first time wildlife of this scale has been confirmed in GTA. Alligators in the Everglades are no joke when it comes to traversal, and Rockstar loves working hostile wildlife into mission and emergent content. Alligator encounters will likely mimic Red Dead Redemption 2's predator behaviour: deadly if you're reckless, manageable if you're prepared.
Wildlife ecosystems in Rockstar games tend to have a lot more going on behind the scenes than what you might immediately notice. RDR2 featured deer migration patterns, schools of fish and predator-prey relationships; GTA 6's wetlands probably have similar systems in place, even if they're not heavily marketed.
Mission types this region supports
Boat smuggling through dense waterways. Stealth missions where you cloak yourself in vegetation. Raiding drug labs in secluded swamp hideouts. Getting stranded when your vehicle breaks down. Hunting and fishing side gigs. The environment enables gameplay archetypes GTA 5 (and previous games) simply couldn't offer - and Rockstar tends to capitalise heavily on new features at release.
The wetlands probably house a significant proportion of the campaign's mid-game missions. They're just too unique to use as a single set piece.
Comparing the wetlands to the rest of Leonida
Vice City: urban sprawl. The Florida Keys analogue: coastal/island life. The inland rural areas: small-town USA. The wetlands: truly wild. The distinct regions all have their own tone to them, and the wetlands are where the game leans hardest into atmosphere and isolation. That's where Rockstar will place its slow-burn missions.
Custom map mods expanding the wetlands will come at some point - the area is a natural fit for additional MLO compounds, custom airboat courses, themed RP areas and more. Stay tuned to GTA 6 map downloads for availability.