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Massive 'Grand Theft Auto VI' leak shows off early gameplay footage
The videos are legitimate, according to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier.
A massive trove of footage from the next installment in Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto series has leaked online. On early Sunday morning, a hacker who goes by teapotuberhacker uploaded 90 videos from a test build of Grand Theft Auto VI to GTAForums. Since PCGamer spotted the post, the clips have proliferated across YouTube and social media, and as of the writing of this article, they're still viewable.
In line with reporting Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier published in July, the footage shows two playable protagonists. One of them is a female character named Lucia, who we see robbing a restaurant in one of the clips. In a separate video, you can see the other playable character riding the “Vice City Metro,” pointing to the fact that GTA VI will take place in a fictionalized version of Miami. According to Schreier, the leaked footage is legitimate.
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,” he tweeted. “This is one of the biggest leaks in video game history and a nightmare for Rockstar Games.”
Adding intrigue to an already interesting story, teapotuberhacker claims they’re also responsible for the recent Uber hack. They said they obtained the test build after gaining access to a Rockstar employee’s Slack account and may upload additional data online, including source code and assets from GTA V and GTA VI, as well as the test build itself. It’s unclear how old this version of the game is. Rockstar has reportedly been working on GTA VI since 2014. In July, Schreier reported the studio was at least another two years away from releasing the game to the public.
Grand Theft Auto series publisher Take-Two Interactive did not immediately respond to Engadget’s request for comment.
Update, 9/19/2022, 9:18am ET: Rockstar Games confirmed the leak Monday morning in a tweet:
A Message from Rockstar Games pic.twitter.com/T4Wztu8RW8
— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) September 19, 2022