GTA 6 leak is ‘biggest in video game history’

A massive leak of videos and screenshots from Grand Theft Auto VI , which has been described as “one of the biggest in video game history”, appears to have revealed that the forthcoming game will feature a female protagonist for the first time.

Footage of alleged gameplay from GTA 6 – one of the most highly-anticipated video games of recent years – was posted to a popular gaming forum by a user going by the name ‘Teapotuberhacker’.

The 3GB file contained 90 videos labelled as GTA 6 footage, which were soon shared widely across Reddit, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube and other platforms over the weekend.

Alongside clips of a female playable character named Lucia, the leak also appeared to show that the game will be at least partially set in Vice City, a fictionalised version of Miami, Florida, that was the location of the 2002 edition GTA: Vice City.

Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar Games confirmed that the GTA 6 leak was real, saying that it was “extremely disappointed” for the game to be revealed before its scheduled release date.

“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,” the company wrote in a statement.

“At this time, we do not anticipate any disruption to our live game services nor any long-term effect on the development of our ongoing projects... 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.”

“The footage is early and unfinished, of course,” Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, who first confirmed the leak, tweeted on Sunday. “This is one of the biggest leaks in video game history and a nightmare for Rockstar Games.

“There are several reasons this is a nightmare for Rockstar. One is that it’ll disrupt work for a while. Another is that it may lead management to limit work-from-home flexibility. The repercussions of this leak might not be clear for quite a while.”

Rockstar Games typically does not comment on leaks but The Independent has contacted legal representatives for Take-Two Interactive for more information on the hack.

Many of the videos that were posted to YouTube have already been taken down by the Google-owned video sharing site, with a message stating: “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Take 2 Interactive.

The follow-up to GTA 5 has been years in the making, with an expected release date of either 2023 or 2024.

A separate leak earlier this year suggested that the hugely popular game will feature support for some kind of cryptocurrency that serves as an in-game token for players to earn and spend.