Cyberpunk 2077 vs. GTA 5 map comparison: How the games differ in their approach to the open world

Cyberpunk 2077 is only a few days away, and fans are chomping at the bit to get their hands on the game. It is an open-world RPG (think Witcher 3 mixed with Deus Ex) and is one of the last decade's biggest releases.

When considering open-world games, specific titles, like GTA 5, stand out as landmark moments for what they mean to the genre. The game might not have been the most revolutionary departure from the conventions of the genre, but it certainly did enough to be a benchmark for other games.

Cyberpunk 2077 stands out as perhaps the biggest game in the genre of the past couple of decades, and comparisons with GTA 5 were inevitable.

Developer CD Projekt Red has stressed time and time again that the game is an RPG through and through, which should give players a decent idea of what it will ultimately feel like.

Being an open-world offering, Cyberpunk 2077's map size is one of the biggest conversations surrounding the game ahead of its release. While it is still to come out and players will discover soon enough how large the map is, there is quite a lot of information present on the internet about Cyberpunk 2077's Night City.

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Maps in Cyberpunk 2077 vs. GTA 5: How the titles differ

When comparing two games as massive as GTA 5 and Cyberpunk 2077, it is essential to narrow down the specific parameters. This article looks at information presently available about Cyberpunk 2077's map, what the devs have had to say about Night City, and compares that with the GTA 5's approach to the open-world.

#1 - The State of San Andreas: The open world of GTA 5

Rockstar Games made a conscious decision to up the ante with GTA San Andreas when moving past the boundaries of a singular city and incorporating a whole state in the game. The state of San Andreas, which included the cities Los Santos, Las Venturas, and San Fierra, was born as a result.

GTA 5 took a similar approach and expanded on the state of San Andreas with more areas like Sandy Shores and the neighboring regions. The game world is enormous and would have been overwhelming if it wasn't as well-paced as it turned out to be.

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#2 - Creating a lived-in city and immersion

The game opens up slowly by having missions spread throughout the map and icons that indicate specific points of interest. Therefore, it provided an incentive for players to explore the boundaries of the map.

The title's purpose of providing a large-scale open-world is purely for immersion, as Grand Theft Auto's satire works only if the world around the player is believable.

The game world must feel lived-in for the satire to hit home, and Los Santos and the other regions must feel as expansive and represent the excess described in the game's writing.

As a result, the map's size and scale might not reflect the amount of content in the game, but it allows players to believe in the authenticity of the game world itself.

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#3 - An RPG playground of the Dark Future - Cyberpunk 2077

Watch from 3:45 for Dev Insights: Night City

CDPR devs have mentioned in past interviews that Cyberpunk 2077's map is also expansive vertically. This means that the game has well-designed interiors in high-rises and other such buildings to allow for gameplay opportunities indoors.

Therefore, the game world has a definite focus on gameplay first and foremost; that is not to say that world-building and lore are sidelined. Cyberpunk 2077's RPG open-world presents a map that might not be as expansive as something like Red Dead Redemption 2, but it isn't striving for that either.

The game world is much denser, with content seemingly around every corner presenting gameplay opportunities to players at all times. Detective work on the internet has led to pretty great estimates of what the map of Cyberpunk 2077 looks like, and the results speak for themselves.

This brilliant video by EdgeRunner Cold combines evidence from games and Dev interviews to estimate how large the map of Cyberpunk 2077 is.