GTA 6 development to “continue as planned” despite major gameplay leaks
Rockstar Games have responded to the major GTA 6 leak that saw early footage from their upcoming title surface by accident, reassuring fans that it shouldn’t result in a delay of the game’s release date.
Of all the games currently in development, you could argue that none can match the sheer hype behind GTA 6. It’s no surprise then that when a hacker posted over 90 videos of early GTA 6 gameplay, the internet immediately went into meltdown.
The footage, which appeared to be from a preview build of the game, revealed everything from the game’s two playable characters to the return of Vice City as part of the game’s map. A user named ‘teapotuberhacker’ posted the videos on the GTA Forums, and later asked Rockstar employees to contact them to “negotiate a deal.”
It was one of the biggest leaks the industry has ever seen, and fans worried about the knock-on effect it could have on the development of the project.
Luckily, on September 19, Rockstar Games issued a statement addressing the leaks and reassuring players that both GTA Online, and GTA 6, should remain largely unaffected by the events.
“We recently suffered a network intrusion in which an unauthorized third party illegally accessed and downloaded confidential information from our systems,” Rockstar said in their update. “Including early development footage for the next Grand Theft Auto.”
“At this time, we do not anticipate any disruption to our live game services nor any long-term effect on the development of our ongoing projects.”
This will certainly come as a relief to fans, who have been patiently waiting for GTA 6 for the better part of a decade.
However, Rockstar expressed regret that fans got their first look at the long-awaited title in this way, before reiterating that development will continue despite the leak.
“Our work on the next Grand Theft Auto game will continue as planned and we remain as committed as ever to delivering an experience to you, our players, that truly exceeds your expectations.”
“We will update everyone again soon and, of course, will properly introduce you to this next game when it is ready. We want to thank everyone for their ongoing support through this situation,” the statement concluded.
Of course, the developer would have been hoping to show off GTA 6 on their own terms with a polished trailer or gameplay demo. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait too long before Rockstar reveal their game in all its glory and confirm a release date.
In the meantime, check out another GTA 6 leak that hints that single-player DLC could make a return.
Image credits: Rockstar Games