Update: Rockstar itself has now also commented on the leak. Read more through the link.
Original Story: In case you somehow missed it, GTA 6 was unceremoniously leaked to the public with about 90 video clips of early, mid-development footage. There was some question as to whether this was the real deal or an extremely elaborate hoax, but Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier has confirmed it's legit:
Citing "Rockstar sources", Schreier says this is "one of the biggest leaks in video game history". Take Two has forced the YouTube videos offline, but obviously the damage has already been done.
The whole situation has caused quite a stir among enthusiasts and those in the industry. Ultimately, it boils down to how damaging leaks like this can be. Some fans see this footage of an unfinished game and assume that's what the final game will be like, which is of course ridiculous. For the people making GTA 6, it'll be a big blow, not least of which because it damages the image of the studio and the game before it's even official. We've seen a few say Rockstar employees are being harassed about the leak on social media, too.
Developers have been showing solidarity with Rockstar as this has been happening, offering words of sympathy as well as explaining why leaks are bad:
Of course there are many, many other comments about the GTA 6 leak should you care to look around. What are your thoughts on this whole situation? Are you against leaks or does it not really bother you? Discuss (nicely, now) in the comments section below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 66
Yeah, I can understand why fellow devs are showing their support. This sort of thing can happen to anyone and it affects the future course of development. Just a terrible situation for the ordinary devs to be in, their work is being scrutinised without being close to finished.
It's not like this was coming out anytime soon anyway, but undoubtedly we're going to have to wait at the very least another year or two before this comes out. PS6 release definitely isn't out of the question now
From a selfish point is of view I find it fascinating to see some of the raw, behind the scenes stuff that these leaks offer, early versions etc and I can appreciate them for what they are, early works, rough around the edges, subject to change, possibly in big ways.
But in the grand scheme of things, it's really 💩 for devs when their work is leaked like this, for a multitude of reasons.
It would be grand if people didn't do this sort of thing though, it really doesn't help anyone, it will probably just lead to more delays.
I don’t understand how dumb you have to be to look at some of those clips and not realise that it’s early in dev footage. Like you can literally see debug running and directional vectors on screen, like wtf I’m not even a dev and it’s obvious. You can only draw vague conclusions from what we saw.
Not to sound bad or anything but you've got to admire the hacker who did this in a kind of way. The hacker is obviously very skilled, he's certainly good.
It's great we get to discuss this Stephen. The leaks are devastating and I think each and every media outlet that reported on it and provided links has a part in that. I can understand that it's news and clearly the job of the media is to bring that to our attention, but enabling people to find how to access leaks of copywritten material whilst on the surface appears to be doing something of public interest is actually damaging to hundreds of people working at those studios.
But that's just how I see it, and I'll be honest I didn't properly consider it until I saw just how upset these devs are. This wasn't just a run-of-the-mill leak about a date or a photo. Do you think there should be a rethink of editorial policies for the media in general in the wake of these leaks?
It’s gotta suck for the developers but as a video game loving weirdo it’s kind of neat seeing how the sausages are made.
Cindy… the TV’s leaking!
People will have forgot all about this in 5 years… when it’s eventually released 🤷♂️
It is kind of depressing to think there are people that actually are looking at the footage as the finished product. Even if you know absolutely nothing about video game development just think about previous Rockstar games. Have you ever played a Rockstar game that looked so unpolished? Of course not.
Folks really need to educate themselves before making comments on subjects they know nothing about. You don't need to know every in and out of game development to figure out it is a work in progress.
All too true. I saw the leak and clicked on the links in haste. I immediately regretted it. It looked very unimpressive as it stood. That really shouldn't be OUR first view of a highly anticipated new game, it's bad for us and it's obviously bad for devs. To have work you have been working hard on for YEARS be leaked and shown off in a bad light is devastating.
Great to see the devs rally round. Neil Druckman's post in particular hit a chord, and I hope is taken to heart by R* devs Obviously he's been in that hole before and knows the way out.
I am happy with the leaks. Rockstar takes the P when it comes to reveals. They would do well to actually engage in us lowly players from time to time instead of acting like gods above us.
@BritneyfR_ee AKA The only good gag in "Scary Movie 3".
I liked the little bits of info gathered from the leak but I can understand why it’s frustrating
@Snake_V5
So would you admire a "skilled" fraudster who stole your identity, spent all your money, destroyed your credit and got you in trouble with the police?
What a stupid comment 😂
I dislike leaks. Totally refuse to watch.
GTA is never a story focused game. Leaked raw gameplay video wouldn’t hurt that much apart from taking away wow factor when they actually reveal the game play.
@ShadowofSparta Rockstar have a mixed age demographic, kids at 5+ years old won't know any better, and those folks who aren't like us on gaming threads knowing every bit of the industry that just play GTA FIFA COD won't know any better either, it just show how much its gained traction due to those different demographics.
Had a quick look at the leak...looked surprisingly better than I expected...not being naive or stupid enough to think this will resemble the final product or even close
Preferred it didn't get leaked though...total bell end who ever did it
Ok.
1- anyone judging a game on a leak is an idiot.
2- why are devs punished? And how?
3- don’t make this a bigger deal than it is.
4- some people live in a bubble that they feel this is a drama in their life “that’ll pass” - people are dealing with death, illness, homelessness… cmon people.
The reality is some people got a look at an u finished game, this often happen is promo builds anyway.
Often photos from movie sets leak and it’s not the end of the world.
Get a grip.
While it does indeed suck, perhaps the feedback Rockstar will get based on the setting looking almost identical to GTA V will push them to be a bit more creative.
@StylesT don’t disagree with any of that. Just a shame people act like this is a massive drama. I’d rather it didn’t happen but I’m not into let’s pretend this is a horrible event that will cause trauma
Its not even a big deal, the game is coming out no matter what. It only took this long because they wanted to milk GTA Online.
Supposedly the person just wants 5 figures. That’s not even pocket change for Take2, but you can’t give in to blackmail.
Unfortunately as this individual has a large chunk of the source code I imagine this game will be delayed by at least a year.
Even if they give in & buy it back there’s no guarantee that the person doesn’t have a copy. Imagine if they could somehow get into GTA Online, that would be disastrous.
Hope they find the person & sue the daylights out of them.
@Snake_V5 @Jammsbro The person doesn’t just have some early footage, but also the source code for GTA5 & 6.They are actively trying to sell it to interested parties & blackmailing RockStar specifically in regards to GTA6.
Imagine if this person has enough info to get into GTA Online- let’s see how you feel if some guy in their mothers basement steals your identity & maxes out your credit card.
Granted hadn't bothered with all the footage but if there's one small positive,it was more akin to a tech demo,rather than the kind of spoilers that afflicted TLOU2.
Not that Take-two/Rockstar will be taking claims of the alleged hacker having possession of parts of the source code lightly....poking a very angry wasps nest with their army of lawyers.
why are you quiet now? you who said they were 100% fake? As usual then…
How about make lemonade outta the lemons and make an official trailer… 🤷🏼
@Stocksy I agree with you mate.
So what, some folks have seen a work-in-progress. Big conk, no other industry worries about such.
Think of buildings, prototypes, other IT projects, the HS2 project or the Thamelink project, other art even - who gives a hoot that a work in progress has been seen. Even the greatest football teams are happy for Youtube to show their training sessions.
No one cares, its just life, do you think people believe you lay a perfect product overnight - no, they appreciate it matures over time to completion.
Move on.
This whole thing has greatly highlighted how stupid gamers are.
So many comments of how bad its looks, like yeah thats what games look like before you play them.
A friend of mine said it looks no different from GTA V and I had to explain to him how wrong and how much of a f***ing idiot he is.
@Atreus97 That's not even the same thing, the guys a hacker but I get what you mean. I just mean it's kind of amazing in a way people who are knolagable like that to be able to do something like that.
@Fight_Teza_Fight Again, not the same thing. And he's not attacking me he's attacking Rockstar. It's the skill and knowledge I'm talking about, not what he's doing.
The "This is horrible for devs" thing just shows how stupid it is for this industry to be so secretive. If the studios were more open about projects, work in progress and dev diaries we wouldn't have kerfufles like this one (apart from the stolen source code).
I was talking to my friend about this. He said that they may have to start from scratch because so much code got leaked and the final game would be hacker central because of that. Is that true or is there ways to avoid that
Well this has finally dethroned the Half-Life 2 leak.
Well actually maybe not. In the case of that leak, they actually released the early build of the game onto file share services. You could play Half-Life 2 (a very buggy, semi incomplete version) in 2003.
At least the hacker hasn’t done that.
But then again, this leak includes the source code. Which is a million times worse long term.
@lindos exactly. The gaming industry is so precious. It lives in such a privileged bubble. We saw a few work in progress shots and most of us probably shrugged and went who cares it’s years away. It was nice to see a few shots but doesn’t tell me anything we didn’t already know.
Seen comments here and elsewhere about the hacker should rot in jail and he should be abused in jail. It’s like get a grip people.
@Stocksy Yep, too many man baby basement dwellers here and in the games media live so far away from the real world it's not even funny. Er guys, hacker released some files from a videogame, not anthrax.
@Stocksy It hurts Rockstar because their source code was leaked. Essentially all their blueprints have been shown to the world and anyone can copy it now. It’s not just as on the surface as it seems. The devs now have to work on the code and change it to keep what they can.
Not to mention there’s security issues, GTA online is an online game. So this could lead to the potential release of GTA Online with GTA VI some vulnerability issues.
It was fascinating to watch but was it worth it? No. We saw some cool early behind the scenes stuff but what we would have seen in a year from now or more would’ve trounced that.
This is a plain robbery, a crime...period. The source code must be worth many millions.
My game dev friend let me know that a set back this large could cause an increase in dev time of 3-5 years 😭😭
This could potentially release on PS6. A game that started development on PS4… PS6
Also Push Square are very shameless for sharing it. I’m assuming you will get sued too
@Stocksy so hacking shouldn't be a criminal offense. Are you okay?
@theMEGAniggle aye, I’m not fussed about seeing it at all. The gaming media has flooded it to me mind you. They could have ignored it and it would have had a much smaller audience. The code is the big thing but surely the minute it gets released dataminers get that all anyway? GTA V code is easily getable I assume?
@zupertramp I didn’t say that. The fact of the matter is most hackers get offered a deal and then get high paid jobs in cyber security. I said people making out this is a heinous crime and want the hacker abused in jail have a whacked sense of what a serious crime is. This sort of crime is viewed so harshly because it can lose people money. So media programs people to vilify it. Where stuff like rape most of the time you don’t get found guilty or you get a ring sentence. I’d just like common sense mate
@theMEGAniggle what do you mean set back and “keep what they can?” Just coz people have seen the code surely it still works? Surely the person hasn’t stolen the code and now they don’t have it?!?
What am I missing why do they need to start again?!?
@Stocksy the minute it was leaked there was no “ignoring” it. Thing you have to realise is this is years and years of work. It’ll encompass their previous work too and for a studio as prestigious and talented as Rockstar, it isn’t something you can just ignore. Other media shouldn’t have shared it
Leaks should stick to pipes, taps and soup*.
@Pete_Stooge But that fits the theme of the game
@Stocksy basically, when a game is released, unless the source code has been leaked, the whole code is never really known. Therefore, there can be exploits made but nothing that would cause too much harm to the devs, online players, or the game.
In this case, whole source code has leaked, therefore everything is out there. Therefore, everything in the game is out there. GTA is the biggest gaming property. Period. If you owned that, would you want everyone having all that code?
Let’s move onto the online side. The whole code has been leaked so now many exploits can be made to target people playing GTA online. This means anything goes. You’re playing online? Hacked. Your Rockstar login details? Released online. It is bad. Not because people are being whiny but because something that shouldn’t be in the hands of the public is now in the hands of the public.
The source code is the whole thing, the whole foundation. So it’ll take a long time to change. Parts of the game that were bad might improve, parts might be forgone all together. For a studio that puts out 2 games a decade, this ain’t good.
@Stocksy You complained about people saying the hacker should rot in jail so pardon my confusion. The existence of rapists doesn't make breaching someone else's network and stealing from them any less wrong in my view.
On the flip side, what was leaked was not current (as we saw on the time stamps), so some of the code might have changed, but I’m sure the development will still be affected
They said no long term effect phew 😮💨
No game fan with even the most rudimentary understanding of the industry would believe leaked footage represented the finished product! With a game this anticipated it’s just conformation that it does exist and will be coming out sometime in the next decade.
I think we only know the surface of what's really going on. Could be a ransome, maybe the footage is just a warning of what could be made public. Im just speculating. But this could potentially be the next great train robbery...
Cool.more gta the more better.this game will be another masterpiece.word up son
I think you'd have to be a pretty silly, casual gamer to be put off by anything you're seeing three or four years hence from the final product. Anybody with any modicum of sense will either treat this with the contempt it deserves or watch it and not take it too seriously at all. My own opinion for what it's worth, I've got absolutely no interest in wasting time watching clips from an unfinished game that is years away, too busy concentrating on the games we have available now. Wake me up in a few years when I might actually give a damn!
@Stocksy whilst i can understand the devs are upset about this leak i also have to agree with you that its getting a bit blown out of proportion with the fake ragers out there in tinternet land. Also those saying this is a ps6 release baffle me and maybe they can let us know when the ps6 is releasing so i can pre order one or at least give me the specs on it..
Don't even know if the game will have an offline single player yet wouldn't be surprised if they ditched it & made it online only
I understand how game development goes, so it doesn't effect me at all.
The gaming industry is so whiny
@Jammsbro This attitude has a strong whiff of entitlement. Why should they 'engage' before their ready? Yes marketing is a participatory two-way game now, but there's still a time and place. I like that there are companies like R & Nintendo that don't bend over like servile goons to 'fans' and 'communities'.
@Athrum
Developers keep quiet for several reasons, industry secrets, plot spoilers, the element of surprise, etc. Developers have the right and a multitude of reasons to keep their projects secret until they are ready to show them and as you can see from the footage that was leaked this certainly was not ready for the public to see so are you somehow blaming Rockstar for this or what?
@ShadowofSparta You would be surprised how many people are that stupid. How many times you see people get mad about the state of a alpha or beta test.
@theMEGAniggle Forgot about that cheaters, grievers, money farmers what a waste especially online will be a crime.
geez only hearing about this now not for me i prefer to wait and see it unfold as i play. il be staying away from all this besides its early raw build they got leaked im sure wont stop me from a day one purchase on consoles and pc i gota save up lol
@Flaming_Kaiser It's a shame. Well now we can see why Rockstar don't like to make or put out games 😂
Yeah, lets all hold hands and have a minute of silence.
Being a bit overdramatic are we?
I have sympathy for many, but not for a multi-billion dollar company having some unfinished gameplay leaked.
If that makes me a bad person, so be it.
@Sequel "fans" and "communities....
Yeah, let that sink in. Let's not treat the people who make this entire empure happen be engaged in any way. Let's treat them like morons and cash cows. Let's treat them like dummies by ignoring them constantly, right up until it's wallet opening time...
"you literally just dissed fans and communities as if they are parasites. We are the gaming world. US. Your entire message stinks of....well, you already know.
@Jammsbro Exactly, couldn't agree more. Pointless engaging with rabble, they'll open their wallets regardless.
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