Earlier today, on the 18th of September, gameplay began emerging online that supposedly showed early footage of Grand Theft Auto 6. Following a wildfire trend that erupted on platforms like social media, it was alleged that a hacker had successfully phished a Rockstar employee, obtaining mass quantities of data from a Slack account. At present, these allegations are yet to be confirmed, but if they’re true, this concerning GTA 6 leak could be the biggest event of its kind in gaming history.

Traditionally, Rockstar Games is adept at keeping a lid on things, even if a few details escape here and there. However, this leak – if it proves to be legitimate – blows the entire GTA 6 project wide open, with the hacker reportedly having acquired 10,000 lines of the game’s source code. Furthermore, there are claims that the hacker has also secured elements of the source code to GTA V. This prevents a PR nightmare for Rockstar Games, and it’s an event that has occurred nine years to the day that GTA 5 was released.

Read on to learn everything we know about this incident.

GTA 6 Leak Has Spread Like Wildfire

In a tweet, Jason Schreier, a reliable and popular reporting source, stated quite clearly:

‘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.’

Not only could this alleged leak impact the security of Rockstar Games’ projects in general, but it also forces their hand with Grand Theft Auto 6. This is one of the – if not the – most highly anticipated games in history, and almost a decade after Grand Theft Auto V launched, we’re still very much in the dark about the next iteration in the series. Now, owing to this reported leak, fans of the franchise know roughly when and where the game is set, how it’s structured, and even the identities of the main characters.

There’s now a ticking time bomb on Rockstar’s hands. At this point, the legendary developer will have to patch holes in the ship as quickly as possible, shoring up any damages and ensuring that the stolen source code ultimately amounts to nothing. If this isn’t addressed, then hackers can potentially use that information to create cheats to disrupt the game further down the line – particularly in terms of any Grand Theft Auto Online content.

This will almost certainly cause a delay in the development of the game. Once upon a time, a similar incident happened with Half-Life 2, and it caused the game to be delayed by an entire year, and at the worst point, it almost resulted in the project being cancelled entirely.

What Exactly Was In The GTA 6 Leak?

There are multiple assets (as many as 90) circulating online at the moment, ranging from still images to several minutes of gameplay. In one lengthy clip, we see a male and a female character (the protagonist) robbing what seems to be a small-town diner, before being pursued by local police officers. In another clip, we see test environments that reveal a large, open map, which is identified in several ways as almost certainly being based on Vice City.

There were also shots that suggested that both the male and female characters are joint protagonists, around the same age, and potentially even siblings. It’s expected that the situation will worsen as time goes on and more content is leaked to social media platforms and circulated onwards. It’s now a race against the clock for Rockstar Games, and we expect that in the coming days, the developer will issue a statement and potentially go as far as to officially reveal the game, in order to save face.

Currently, Take-Two Interactive, the owner of Rockstar Games, has been issuing takedown notices regarding some of the material posted online. It’s not a confirmation in itself, but it does give weight to the alleged leaks.

Let’s see what happens as this unfolds.