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Rockstar Games Says Work on GTA 6 Will “Continue as Planned” After Massive Gameplay Leak

Rockstar Games has confirmed the authenticity of a massive leak of Grand Theft Auto 6 gameplay footage that surfaced online on Sunday, September 18th. According to the video game studio, the 3 GB file was taken as part of “a network intrusion,” but work will “continue as planned” on the long anticipated title.

“We recently suffered a network intrusion in which an unauthorized third party illegally accessed and downloaded confidential information from our systems, including early development footage for the next Grand Theft Auto,” Rockstar said in a statement posted to Twitter. “We are extremely disappointed to have any details of our next game shared with you all in this way. 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.”

No further details about the “network intrusion” were shared, but Rockstar said it does “not anticipate any disruption to our live game services nor any long-term effect on the development of our ongoing projects.” The company promised to “update everyone again soon” and “properly introduce” GTA 6 “when it is ready.”

The leak was posted to GTAForums on Sunday morning and contained 90 videos of GTA 6 footage. Shortly afterward, screenshots and clips from the video spread to YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, and other gaming forums. The clips have since been taken down, but some of the footage matches a Bloomberg report from July revealing the game will feature a playable woman protagonist influenced by Bonnie and Clyde.

In one video, a playable female character named Lucia can be seen robbing a waffle restaurant with an accomplice named Jason. Another clip lines up with the reported setting of the game in a fictionalized version of Miami by showing a playable character riding the “Vice City Metro” train.

It’s unclear how old the footage is, but the clips are taken from early and unfinished development builds, as well as testing of some parts of the game. The GTA 6 launch is at least two years away, according to estimates from the developers interviewed by Bloomberg earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Grand Theft Auto: Online has kept the GTA franchise humming along with expansions like The Contract starring Dr. Dre. Besides six new songs by Dre, it also includes a radio station curated by Rosalía. In November 2021, Rockstar reissued the first three titles as Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition.