Theory: Interstate 404 is a "404 Not Found" joke

What the trailer showsUnconfirmed

Trailer 1 includes several shots of green overhead highway signs in Vice City. RockstarINTEL's location breakdown places the first set at about 0:25. One sign points to Kelly County and VCI Airport (Vice City International) on the 404 heading west, connecting with Highway 97, and the panel beside it lists Stockyard and Downtown. Around 0:50 more 404 signs appear, pointing to the Vice Beaches, the port and the Keys.

The layout looks like real Miami. The road from downtown west past the airport is the Dolphin Expressway, State Road 836. Its short downtown stretch is signed as Interstate 395, and it runs past Miami International Airport and out toward the western suburbs. Highway 97 plays the role of I-95.

Why 404 breaks the real rulesUnconfirmed

US interstate numbers follow a system. Main routes get one or two digits. Three-digit routes are branches of a parent route, and their last two digits are the parent's number. The first digit tells you the type: an odd first digit means a spur that leaves the parent and does not come back, and an even first digit means a loop or connector that rejoins it.

By those rules, a 404 would be a loop off Interstate 4, which is a real Florida highway running 132 miles from Tampa to Daytona Beach. A cross-state road from downtown Vice City to the airport and the west of Leonida is not a loop off anything shown in the trailers. No Interstate 404 exists in the real US system.

The joke fans seeUnconfirmed

404 is the HTTP status code a web server returns when a page cannot be found, and "404 Not Found" has been an internet joke for decades. Rockstar picked a number that is meaningless as an interstate and famous as an error, for a game fans waited more than a decade to see. Rockstar loves this kind of gag in its street furniture, so the reading is tempting.

The case againstUnconfirmed

A fictional state needs fictional road numbers, and an unused number is the safe choice. Real highway 404s exist too: Ontario's Highway 404 is a major Toronto freeway that people call "the four-oh-four". The 97 next to it looks like a simple riff on I-95, which suggests Rockstar was making plausible-looking numbers rather than writing a web joke. Rockstar has not commented. Our take: it is a cheeky number, quite possibly on purpose, but there is nothing to prove it.

More easter eggs

• Theory: Leonida Keys bridge may echo Florida's Seven Mile BridgeTrailer 1 shows a modern highway bridge beside an older span in the Leonida Keys. The paired layout resembles Florida's Seven Mile Bridge and Old Seven Mile Bridge, though Rockstar has not confirmed a direct copy.
• Theory: Nine1Nine could nod to Miami's E11EVENA seaplane towing a purple Nine1Nine banner appears in Trailer 1, and the club appears again in Trailer 2. Its name and banner invite a comparison to Miami's E11EVEN, but Rockstar has not confirmed that as the inspiration.
• Theory: One-Eyed Willie's mod shop is named after The GooniesThe Ultimate Edition's off-road garage, One-Eyed Willie's Mod Shop, shares a name, nearly, with the pirate whose treasure drives The Goonies (1985). Rockstar's images show no pirate theme, and the name works as a crude joke too.
• Theory: Raul Bautista's cover art outfit echoes Lance VanceOn GTA VI's official cover art, bank robber Raul Bautista wears a white blazer over a purple shirt. Fans see Lance Vance, Tommy's partner-turned-traitor in Vice City.
• Theory: The Ammu-Nation pitchman in Trailer 2 is Phil CassidySome fans think the shouting gun salesman in Trailer 2's Ammu-Nation commercial is Phil Cassidy, the one-armed arms dealer from the 3D-era games. The footage argues against it.
• Theory: The face on Uncle Jack's door is Red Dead's Everett MorganFans matched the moustached face on Uncle Jack's door in Trailer 1 to Red Dead Online's Everett Morgan. A stronger match may be closer to home: the face logo of Flanigan's, the South Florida chain behind Big Daddy's liquor stores.