The Vice City sign on the Miami Heat arena now lights up
The “Welcome to Vice City” sign on the Kaseya Center in Miami is now lit. The lettering on the roof of the arena ends in the Roman numerals VI. Rockstar Games uses it to promote Grand Theft Auto VI.
Reddit user Ground_Breaker49 posted a video of the lit sign on r/GTA on 1 October. The aerial footage shows the arena by the water at night, with the lettering glowing on the dark roof. The image at the top is a still from that video.
Vice City sign on the Kaseya center is now fully lit up.
The Sahara Arena in the game
In GTA VI the building is called the Sahara Arena, IGN writes. It is clearly visible in one of the new screenshots that Game Informer published on 29 September. As in Miami, a Ferris wheel stands next to the arena by the water.
The Kaseya Center is the home of NBA team Miami Heat and stands on Biscayne Bay. Rockstar pays 975,000 dollar for the sign, around 840,000 euro. The money goes to Miami-Dade County, which owns the arena.
Months of talks with the county
Rockstar had been talking to Miami-Dade County for months about a large campaign in the city, according to IGN. Several ideas came up, among them taking over parts of the airport, drone shows and events on the beaches. In the end the choice fell on the Kaseya Center. Whether any of the other ideas still go ahead is not known.
A split vote in Miami Beach
The neighbouring city of Miami Beach approved a separate campaign on 10 September. The city commission voted 4 to 3 in favour, IGN reported at the time. Rockstar pays the city at least 3 million dollar. Branding for the game appears there from 15 October to 31 December.
Commissioner David Suarez voted against. During a meeting he showed footage from the extended GTA VI trailer and said the game does not match the values of the community. Commissioner Monica Matteo-Salinas voted in favour. She called the campaign a win for gamers, herself included.
GTA VI is due on 19 November for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S.
Source: IGN Benelux