Grand Theft Auto fans will have to wait until later this month to take a deep dive into the next game in the series, which will premiere on Netflix before releasing on YouTube later today (although likely much sooner on unofficial channels). But despite Rockstar Games’ efforts to maintain control over Grand Theft Auto VI Leaked – especially after the 2022 incident – legitimate-looking gameplay footage is now available.
The publisher allegedly hit people who shared two-minute gameplay clips and a screenshot of the Florida-inspired map with DMCA takedown notices. While we can’t share the materials here or tell you where to find them, you are a citizen of the Internet. You might discover them yourself. What we can do, however, is describe what we saw.
Let’s start with Leonida’s map, which looks like a distorted, compacted version of South Florida. As with GTA Vit features a big city (the Rockstar version of Miami this time). It is to the east of Leonida, with many green spaces to the west and north. There are many, many islands, large and small, scattered across the map, with a group that resembles the Florida Keys to the south. There are also many markers in the screenshot. Most are nondescript, but others include a house icon, a balaclava-covered face, cars, and (gulp) an alligator.
A clip shows Jason, one of the game’s two protagonists, in a house by the water. There are gym equipment on the balcony, reminiscent of gym workouts. GTA San Andreas. Jason jumps over the ledge and runs near a jetski before picking up a basketball and making a few shots. After scoring on his first attempt, he gets an increase in his concentration stats, suggesting GTA VI will look at RPG mechanics.
There’s not much else to say in terms of HUD in this clip. There are two dollar values at the top right of the screen that match the font from previous games. What appears to be a focus bar appears in the upper left when Jason has the basketball in his hand.
For what it’s worth, the building looks identical to the one that appears in an official screenshot of GTA VI. It is labeled as Jason’s hideaway on the game’s website.
The second clip has more action. It opens with Jason looking like he’s about to cross a bridge towards an area called The Keys before turning around and causing relatively light carnage.
After colliding with a delivery truck, he and the driver get into a fight. Jason kills the guy with a key (each hit of which depletes an energy bar) that the latter was holding. This earns Jason a two-star wanted level. A devil icon with a minus sign appears on the right of the screen, as well as a portrait of Jason that appears. This indicates that there is an honor/karma system, like in the Red Dead Redemption series.
As Jason returns to his vehicle, “load” and “store” prompts appear briefly, suggesting that you can change your weapons and store items (e.g. a key) in your car. Once he’s back in the driver’s seat, an icon appears with the car’s name and a gas meter, so it looks like you’ll need to refuel your vehicles this time around. The clip – which also features a GTA V-mini-map- ends just as Jason approaches an air ambulance.
It’s worth treating the clips and map with some skepticism, as they may not be entirely legitimate. It’s also unclear how old they are and what may have changed in the meantime, although Rockstar’s servers were hacked earlier this year. These are at least plausible looks GTA VI.
The documents are watermarked with URLs that claim to offer fans more details as well as a “fight for players’ rights” message. The alleged leaker claimed to have posted the images and screenshot to protest Rockstar’s decision to only include a code in the box of the physical edition of the game, rather than a disc. They threaten further action against Rockstar and other publishers for alleged anti-consumer practices such as digital pre-orders, “fake single-player DLC” and failure to maintain access to single-player games.
Grand Theft Auto VI will be released on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 19. A detailed preview of the game will premiere on Netflix on August 27.
