Rockstar has responded to a major round of Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks, which saw over an hour of footage from a development build of the game leaked online. The studio says it's "extremely disappointed" by the leaks, but that work on GTA 6 will continue regardless.
What has Rockstar said about these Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks?
Speaking on Twitter, Rockstar confirms the legitimacy of the GTA 6 leaks (which was all but unquestionable anyway), calling them a "network intrusion" in which a hacker accessed and downloaded early development footage of Grand Theft Auto 6. Rockstar says this won't impact its live-service operations, nor will it affect development of "ongoing projects".
The studio goes on to say that it's "extremely disappointed" to have Grand Theft Auto 6 details shared with the public in this way, rather than officially. Rockstar says work on GTA 6 "will continue as planned" and that further updates on the game's status will be coming soon, including an official reveal of the game "when it is ready".
What's in these Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks?
Since the Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks are being deleted left, right, and center, it's getting harder to find them, but you can probably still hunt them down if you look hard enough. Per Jason Schreier on Twitter, the leaks, which seem to confirm Bloomberg's reporting regarding a female main character and a Vice City setting, are legitimate.
The leaks comprise around an hour of video footage, broken up into many clips, each of which is just a few seconds long. In the clips, familiar Grand Theft Auto brands like Vespucci and beer brand Pißwasser can be seen, and the clips also show off the game's shooting, driving, and conversation mechanics, the latter of which seems to be similar to that featured in Red Dead Redemption 2.
The footage is very rough around the edges; in many clips, it's possible to spot placeholder images, graphics outlines, and other dev build features. Some of the footage apparently dates back as early as 2019, so it's fair to say that the game in the leaks is almost certainly very different today. Of course, it's totally natural that this early GTA 6 footage would look a bit rough in the leaks, considering that the general public was never meant to see this in-development work.
As well as the video footage, the hacker, who appears to go by the name "teapotuberhacker" (who was also apparently behind the recent Uber hack, hence the name), says they've also obtained the Grand Theft Auto 6 source code, threatening to publish it online. Said hacker is also claiming to have obtained a GTA 6 test build, which they also say they can post online. Suffice it to say this is pretty much a nightmare scenario for Rockstar and Take-Two.
Teapotuberhacker has said that they are "looking to negotiate a deal" with Rockstar or Take-Two regarding the leaked material. In a post on the GTAForums website, teapotuberhacker includes their Telegram info, but in a subsequent tweet, the hacker says their Telegram account has been deleted. Given Rockstar and Take-Two's reputation, this conflict isn't likely to die down anytime soon.
Why can't I find the Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks online?
Beyond their response shared above, Take-Two, and its child Rockstar have taken action against the leaks. As you might expect from companies as copyright strike-happy as Rockstar and Take-Two have been in the past, the companies are not happy about the leak, and they're employing the same tools they often do. They're taking down Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks wherever they can find them, copyright striking tweets containing images or videos, and making it very difficult indeed to find the leaked content online.
According to VGC, Take-Two is clearing out links to leaked GTA 6 content both on GTAForums and on the Grand Theft Auto 6 subreddit, the latter of which now contains a warning that leaking GTA 6 content will result in the subreddit being "obliterated" by Take-Two. Discussions about the leaks are still allowed, however.
What impact will these leaks have on Grand Theft Auto 6?
As Rockstar has said on Twitter, development on Grand Theft Auto 6 won't be affected by these leaks. Occasionally, leaks of this magnitude can cause games to be pushed back for further polish or iteration, but given that these Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks feature a development build from a few years ago, it's not likely that they reflect the current status of the project.
It's fair to say that Rockstar is firing on all cylinders right now when it comes to Grand Theft Auto 6. Back in July, prominent leaker Tez2 reported on Twitter that the disastrous launch of the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy remaster had led Rockstar to push back work on GTA 4 and Red Dead Redemption remasters, leaving the company free to work on Grand Theft Auto 6.
Right now, we don't have a GTA 6 launch date to look forward to. The game likely won't arrive until 2024 at the earliest, although some reports are suggesting that Rockstar might announce a release date sometime next year. Only time will tell whether these leaks will have any impact on that, but in the meantime, take care if you're looking for the leaked material, because Rockstar and Take-Two don't seem to be messing around.
