Rockstar Games has reacted to the mass GTA 6 leaks, which began in 2022, with a top developer at the studio saying it "feels like somebody's wading through your dirty washing." Bloomberg published these comments from Rockstar developers on the same day that GTA 6 leaker CyberLeek posted yet another gameplay leak, saying it could be the last.
"It feels like somebody’s wading through your dirty washing,” Rockstar North's Aaron Garbut said. “It’s like they’re inside your head. You see your early work out there. Nobody’s ever supposed to see that. It’s really weirdly invasive. And so it’s quite hard to deal with on an emotional level.”
Rockstar and Take-Two eventually tracked down the hacker who was allegedly responsible for the leaks in 2022. This person will reportedly face court on November 9, just days before GTA 6 releases.
The hack pushed Rockstar to implement a controversial new policy requiring developers to work from the office, as opposed to remotely. Rockstar publishing boss Jennifer Kolbe said Rockstar will take another look at this policy after GTA 6 is released, but she doesn't envision major changes.
"The idea that we would have the game in that many environments is something that I think the security team would not love,” she said. “I think if we did not have a game that people wanted to steal as much, maybe it would be an easier conversation.”
The major 2022 hack that led to a series of GTA 6 leaks was followed up by a new round of leaks this year from someone going by CyberLeek. The person, or group, was pushing a memecoin, but is apparently now shutting down. One final gameplay leak was published today, October 14, and it's a big one, so be aware of that when you're scrolling through your feed.
The Bloomberg story on GTA 6 included numerous other details, including how the game originally had a bigger scope and could have launched sooner, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick's response to a big delay, and the absurd amount of detail in the game.
The story also confirmed that GTA 6 did not in fact cost $1.5 billion to make and that an entire studio was spun up to create NPCs. We also learned from the story that Rockstar's GTA 6 realism experiment began with beer and sandwiches and that Rockstar won't need another eight years to release its next game.
GTA 6 releases on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, though it could be delayed again.