Over the weekend, we started hearing reports that footage of Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6), their upcoming mega-hit, had somehow been leaked to the internet. As to how this happened, we heard everything from it being spread by a leaker, to someone breaking an NDA.
However, Rockstar Games has come clean and has stated that the GTA 6 leak was due to the company being hacked. Sadly, something that has been more rampant in the gaming industry. It wasn’t that long ago that CD Project Red was hacked, and the source code for Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 was sold for a whopping 7 million dollars.
Thanks to this hack, over 90 videos of the GTA 6 build have been floating around YouTube and various other video hosting sites. Those who’ve seen the footage have claimed as if the game looked half finished, and even have gone as far as to comparing it to other games from various companies, including Ubisoft.
As if today, RockStar Games has been playing damage control and has been doing its best to get as many videos removed from the internet. Of course, we all know that once something is released on the internet, it’s nearly impossible to scrub it completely.
You can read the summary of what happened and how upset Rockstar Games is over the recent events.
A Message from Rockstar Games pic.twitter.com/T4Wztu8RW8
— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) September 19, 2022
It’s unfortunate that the world ended up finding out about Grand Theft Auto 6 in this matter, and I can understandably see why Rockstar is upset. Whoever released the footage of the game, which has circulated around the get, ended up getting their 15-minutes of fame, but ended up doing nothing but damage to both Rockstar Games and the Grand Theft Auto 6.
Despite the setback, Rockstar will continue with the development of the game and will eventually see the game, when they’re ready.
As for the person or persons who leaked the game, I genuinely hope they end up getting caught and ultimately penalized for their actions. This entire “I’m doing this for exposure,” is dumb, does nothing but cause damage, and continues to push this leaker mentality that has infiltrated the gaming industry, and continues to thrive.
As for when we’ll get our first legit taste of Grand Theft Auto 6, I wouldn’t count on seeing that until the end of 2023 at the earliest. When GTA 5 was in development, it took Rockstar Games three years. Seeing how GTA 6 is possibly more ambitious, it may take the developer even longer.
That said, if you’re one of the few that haven’t played through GTA 5, like me, perhaps now is the time to finally get on that.
