A user on GTAForums who also claims to be behind the recent Uber hack has just posted nearly 100 videos online that claim to show development footage of Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto VI, which is currently out on nearly every platform of social network. Matching much of what Bloomberg reported earlier this year — including that the game will star a woman and take place in Vice City — the videos are footage very much in development, with unfinished textures and models everywhere, and real-time code playback in many of these. The leaker takes requests asking people what else they would like to see in more videos. In one, a white male playable character meets a racist NPC by the pool, and as the conversation unfolds, you can see the code required for the interaction playing alongside the in-game action. In another, the female character—I’m only identifying it as such because it would be a series first—explores one of the show’s famous strip clubs. This appears to be the new female protagonist for GTA 6, which is technically a series first, and all the more reason why a leak of this caliber for one of the most anticipated games ever is so unprecedented for Rockstar Games. Screenshot: teapotuberhacker / Rockstar There’s also a video showing off “passenger shooting mechanics”, depicted with the player taking an AK-47 to some chasing police cars, and another showing the interior modeling of a car. One of the more complete videos uploaded shows both characters teaming up to rob a restaurant, holding patrons at gunpoint before the police arrive. Others are rougher in shape and have little more than a featureless placeholder character moving around an empty landscape with combat animations as cover. The legitimacy of these videos is obviously disputed. There’s certainly a lot of footage, and faking both the action and the code running at the same time would be too much work for an internet prank. But it’s still a leak, and unless Rockstar comments (we’ve been in touch and will update if we hear back), we won’t know it’s real until we can match what’s shown here with what eventually appears in GTA VI. If it’s real, then holy shit. Given the state of the game and the amount of footage, it would be one of the biggest of all time, right up there with Half-Life 2. So far, though, it looks legit: it’s not just journalists like former Kotaku behemoth Jason With Schreier saying that Rockstar contacts have confirmed the information to them, Rockstar employees seem to like tweets related to the apparent hack. But the wildest part? The hacker is trying to make a deal with Rockstar right now, though we don’t know what kind. Stop distributing more material? To ensure the leaker doesn’t get sued? Whatever the case, this is definitely one of the most unprecedented leaks in all of video game history. Earlier this year, Bloomberg also reported that the next GTA will try to be more “culturally sensitive,” a more subtle tonal shift already evident in the re-release of GTA V. The recent game saw Rockstar remove some transphobic content that had it was previously criticized by some fans. While things are moving quickly on the hacking front and there are rumors of possible scams involving the sale of the source code, fans are busy trying to figure out what’s visible in the footage that’s already out there. Already, there are theories about who is playing the new protagonist. Update 1:55pm: Added details on the burglar’s scream at Rockstar, along with new story developments. Update 7:10pm: Added more GTA 6 details.
