Gameplay footage of what appears to Grand Theft Auto VI has been posted online this Sunday, in what amounts to one of the biggest video game leaks in history.
Grand Theft Auto VI is the highly anticipated sequel to Grand Theft Auto V, which is one of the most successful video games in history, selling 169 million copies and generating over $6 billion in revenue.
A user on GTAforums appears to be behind the leak and has posted almost 100 videos of the game in action. Unlike official gameplay trailers we’re used to seeing, these videos feature unfinished elements, including placeholder textures and unfinished character models. Many of them are short. One, which is a little more extensive, shows a male and female character robbing a diner. Others feature a woman visiting a strip club, one clip shows a poolside conversation. This is very much par for the course in Grand Theft Auto games, all of which feature missions very much like this.
The addition of a female playable protagonist also reflects much of what was reported by Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier about the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI game, which is apparently two years away from release. Other details, like the game’s setting, in the fictional city of Vice City, appear to be confirmed in the leaked footage.
In a tweet, Schreier said he confirmed with sources at Rockstar that the leaked footage was genuine.
Not that there was much doubt, but I’ve confirmed with Rockstar sources that this weekend’s massive Grand Theft Auto VI leak is indeed real. The footage is early and unfinished, of course. This is one of the biggest leaks in video game history and a nightmare for Rockstar Games
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) September 18, 2022
“Not that there was much doubt, but I’ve confirmed with Rockstar sources that this weekend’s massive Grand Theft Auto VI leak is indeed real. The footage is early and unfinished, of course,” Schreier tweeted. “This is one of the biggest leaks in video game history and a nightmare for Rockstar Games.”
Some gamers, used to polished footage of upcoming releases, reacted negatively to the early leaks, but games in early development usually look like this. Rockstar has reportedly been working on Grand Theft Auto VI since 2014. At this point no one knows precisely how old this footage, but as The Verge notes, the game appears to be running on RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 3080 cards, which means the build can’t be older than two years. With the game not set for release for another two years, this matches up: big budget video games that far from release rarely look close to finished.
Rockstar didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
