Rockstar calls GTA 6 leaks 'heartbreaking for our team' and says the game is nearly finished

Rockstar Games

Rockstar Games has issued a statement on the recent Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks, just ahead of an official extended look at the game. The publisher — publicly acknowledging for the first time that the clips are legitimate — called the leaked videos "heartbreaking for our team" and indicated they may include some spoilers. It added that "this is obviously not how we intended for you to see the game after all this time."

The GTA 6 developer apologized for taking so long to bring everything to fans and for keeping official gameplay footage and other details under wraps. Rockstar said it was nearly finished making the game (which will receive many updates in the coming years, so it won't really be "finished" anytime soon). 

GTA 6 is slated to arrive on November 19. Rockstar will give fans a clearer picture of what the game is all about with a deep dive that will initially stream on Netflix on August 27 before hitting YouTube several hours later. The publisher said it took longer than it hoped to prepare this "extended look" but was aware it needed to exceed fans' expectations.

An individual or group has dropped more than a dozen gameplay clips that were widely shared on social media (Rockstar issued takedown notices on many copies). The first two showed Jason — one of the two playable protagonists — shooting a few hoops at his safe house and causing chaos on the roads of GTA 6's version of South Florida. Subsequent leaks depicted him at a nudist colony and cycling along an impressively crowded beach.

The leaker, who promoted a memecoin in the clips, claimed they were protesting video game companies' alleged anti-consumer practices, such as Rockstar's decision to release the physical edition of GTA 6 as a code in a box, instead of on a disc. One of the leaked clips notably showed Jason walking around a store that sells physical copies of games.

The publisher is said to have been "all hands on deck" to figure out how the leaks happened and who is responsible. Its parent, Take-Two Interactive, sought information from Microsoft and Discord that it believed to be connected to the leak. On Monday, Discord marketing director Ryan K. Rigney said the company had "not yet been served with a subpoena" and that once Take-Two had, it would "evaluate the validity and scope before responding."

Rockstar's full statement is below:

Dear all,

We know that many of you have been waiting to hear from us regarding the events of the past week. It would be an understatement to say that having videos of Grand Theft Auto VI gameplay leak in this way has been heartbreaking for our team, and this is obviously not how we intended for you to see the game after all this time. We are very sorry that everything has taken as long as it has — from getting the game finished (nearly there!) to sharing more details and official gameplay, and providing the community with everything you want to know.

We are very excited for everyone to see the extended look tomorrow. It has taken longer than we wanted to get it ready, but as with everything we do, we know we need to exceed your expectations, and we are determined to deliver at the level you expect and deserve. While it is unfortunate that the intended game experience may now be impacted by some spoilers, we hope that everyone will wait a bit longer to experience the game for themselves on November 19.

We want to thank everyone in the community who has reached out with messages of support this past week — your words have meant more to this team than you can imagine. Ultimately, we are making this game for you, and without you, we would not have had the privilege of making games.

We look forward to sharing more with you soon.

Sincerely, Rockstar Games.