Extensive footage of Grand Theft Auto VI has seemingly hit the web just one week ahead of its planned reveal on Netflix.
On Tuesday, a hacker group calling itself Cyberleek published a bunch of videos on its website featuring what appears to be gameplay from the upcoming Rockstar open-world crime game — the latest in a series of other leaks going back several years. While this latest footage isn’t confirmed to be valid, the fact that it looks so detailed even at lower resolution and Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive has been copyright striking associated videos on social media certainly suggests that this is indeed GTA VI.
In the videos, we see what appears to be the game’s full map, as well as a look at the romantic crime duo Jason and Lucia partaking in various activities across the fictional Florida-inspired state of Leonida. This footage includes driving around the city, skating across a pier, water-skiing and jet flying.
We also see a sequence in which Jason brawls with some security officers and, after subduing one, picks up his hat and stun gun to take out more guards. The footage also suggests that you’ll be able to “clone” keys to cars and seemingly confirms at least one song in the game: Canadian Tate McCrae’s “Sports Car.” (The single’s official YouTube video has since been bombarded with comments about the GTA VI leak.)
We won’t link to any of the videos here, but suffice it to say they’re all over the web, especially on X (Twitter), even as Take-Two actively tries to take them down. Cyberleek has also threatened to leak more GTA VI footage in protest over Rockstar’s decision to only sell physical copies of the game that contain digital codes, not actual discs. The group has condemned Rockstar and other gaming giants like PlayStation for killing physical games to prioritize digital sales. While that’s the main issue at hand for Cyberleek, the hacker also criticized business practices like digital pre-orders, “fake single-player DLC” and content in single-player games that becomes inaccessible once servers go offline.
On the one hand, there are a lot of valid reasons to be against the end of physical games, from the blow this deals to preservation to the removal of more affordable options for consumers. But it should also be noted that Cyberleek is promoting a memecoin in its videos, so it’s hardly being “altruistic” here. Stop Killing Games, the digital rights and legal consumer protections group that has been advocating for games preservation, even condemned Cyberleek for taking to “illegal means” to make its point and encouraged people to not give the group any money.
In any event, not only are GTA VI leaks not new for Rockstar, but they certainly won’t have any real impact on the game. After all, it’s expected to be one of, if not the, biggest entertainment launches in history, given the significant build-up of anticipation since 2013’s record-breaking GTA V. The official reveal of GTA VI gameplay is also imminent, anyway, with Rockstar set to host an “extended look” at the game on August 27 on Netflix. The presentation will be livestreamed exclusively on the platform at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT before debuting on YouTube and Rockstar’s website six hours later.
Image credit: Rockstar Games
