A dedicated Grand Theft Auto fan has created a detailed, GTA-style map of London, imagining how the city might appear in Rockstar's iconic open-world series. YouTuber CityEd, who specializes in cartography, shared their creation, which reimagines London's famous locations with exaggerated landmarks and place names in the signature GTA style.
CityEd explained on Patreon that the project aimed to apply Rockstar Games' established naming conventions to London. For instance, iconic areas like King's Cross are renamed 'Dukes Cross,' and Angel becomes 'Saint.' The entire city is humorously referred to as 'Trafalgar' on the map. This approach draws inspiration from how Rockstar has previously adapted real-world cities into its games, exaggerating cultural and historical associations for comedic effect.
Unlike previous GTA installments set in London, such as the 1999 mission pack for Grand Theft Auto: London, 1969, CityEd's map is not constrained by existing game mechanics or lore. Those earlier titles were released before Rockstar began its distinct practice of reinventing city names. CityEd's work starts from scratch, building a fictionalized London based on the developer's established pattern.
A longer video detailing CityEd's creative process and the historical research behind their map choices is also available. The fan's imaginative project comes as anticipation builds for the next official Grand Theft Auto installment, GTA 6, which is set to release soon with a map reported to be significantly larger than that of GTA 5.