GTA 6 gameplay has 'leaked' online and the memes have soon followed

It’s been nine years since Grand Theft Auto V was released by Rockstar Games, and now leaked footage appearing to show gameplay from Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6) is spreading across the internet.

The devastating alleged leak of more than 90 videos, which Rockstar sources have confirmed as legitimate according to reports from Bloomberg reporter Jason Schrier, came from user ‘teapotuberhacker’ on GTAForums.com on Sunday.

“It’s possible I could leak more data soon, [including] GTA 5 and GTA 6 source code and assets, GTA 6 testing build,” they wrote.

One preview clip shared to Twitter shows a female character exploring the open world map, seemingly confirming a report – again by Bloomberg – back in July that the next game in the popular franchise will include a female protagonist.

Others feature menu functions, a nightclub environment and shooting mechanics.

The leak comes years before the game is actually expected to be available, with the latest speculation being that GTA 6 will be released around 2024 or 2025.

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Nevertheless, the early exposure of some of the gameplay which Rockstar is working on has ignited discussion on social media:

Embarrassingly, it isn’t the first time that a hit Rockstar game has had early information about it published online, with the website TrustedReviews apologising in 2018 for running a story based on Red Dead Redemption 2 and donating over £1 million to charities selected by the games publisher Take-Two Games, under which Rockstar operates.

In a statement issued to Variety about the 2018 leak, Take-Two said: “Take-Two takes security seriously and will take legal action against people or publications who leak confidential information.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Rockstar Games said: "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. 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. 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. We will update everyone again soon and, of course, will properly introduce you to this next game when it is ready. We want to thank everyone for their ongoing support through this situation. – The Rockstar Games Team.”

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