Miami-Dade County Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz is pushing back hard against a proposal that could temporarily recast Miami as a real-world version of Vice City, the fictional setting featured in Grand Theft Auto 6.
Cordero-Stutz, a Republican who has described herself as “tough on crime,” criticized Miami-Dade’s Democratic mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, over a possible promotional partnership with Rockstar Games, the studio behind the blockbuster franchise.
The long-awaited GTA VI is set in a fictionalized South Florida landscape, where the series’ familiar mix of crime, violence and chaos remains central to gameplay.
“Grand Theft Auto is a video game franchise built around criminal activity — we need to seriously consider the message we send when our own government promotes a fictional identity centered around many of those same crimes,” the sheriff said.
“Its fictional world includes murder, robbery, drug trafficking, carjacking, violence against law enforcement, and other conduct that the men and women of the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office work every single day to prevent,” Cordero-Stutz added.
The proposed campaign, titled GTA VI × MDC, would brand Miami as “the real-world inspiration for Vice City” and incorporate “approved GTA VI characters or visual references” if the concept moves forward, according to public records.
Among the ideas floated to Rockstar Games were temporary name changes for major transportation hubs, including rebranding Miami International Airport as Vice City International and the Port of Miami as Port Gellhorn, matching their in-game equivalents. The proposal also suggested adding Vice City-themed sewer and stormwater manhole covers.
Another pitch called for a Vice City Motor Fest, described as an event that would “combine classic cars, customized vehicles, lowriders, motorcycles, tropical graphics, and local entertainment within a controlled, family-appropriate setting,” according to the proposal.
Police Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez, a Republican weighing a 2028 challenge to Levine Cava for her seat as mayor, also weighed in and attacked his political foe over the proposal, saying that he “cannot believe” the city is “even considering temporarily rebranding important county assets.
“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,” Bermudez said.
The marketing plan hasn’t been approved, according to the mayor’s office.
“Nothing has been formally agreed to or approved, and any idea would have to go through the appropriate review and approval process,” Carlos Suarez, a spokesperson for the mayor, told PCGamer.
But discussions were still ongoing.
“Given Miami-Dade’s clear influence on the game, we think there could be a unique opportunity to generate revenue for the County while showcasing Miami-Dade to a massive audience,” Suarez added.
Fans of the series have attacked the sheriff and commissioner online, calling them the “fun police” and saying the city could miss out on potential revenue by shooting down the deal.
