Rockstar finally responds to ‘heartbreaking’ GTA 6 leaks - The Verge

The Grand Theft Auto developer releases a statement following a week of repeated leaks.

Rockstar Games has released its first official statement following days of sustained leaks of footage from Grand Theft Auto VI, calling the period “heartbreaking for our team.” Not long after Rockstar posted, another leaked video appeared, this time showing the Jason character pulling off the series’ trademark move of carjacking a box Chevy-like vehicle with a “Rideout Customs” logo across the back window and trying to evade the police. At the end, the other main character of the game, Lucia, appears briefly in what looks like a cutscene.

“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,” the studio said in its statement published Wednesday morning on social media. “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.”

Footage from the game has been repeatedly shared in recent days from an apparently playable build of the game. A person or organization calling themself “CyberLeek” has claimed responsibility for the leaks, which have been used in part to promote a cryptocurrency. Publisher Take-Two Interactive has requested to be able to subpoena Microsoft and Discord over the copyright-infringing content in the hope of identifying the source of the leaks.

On Thursday evening, fans are getting an “extended look” at the game in a show that will stream exclusively on Netflix at 3PM ET, six hours before it appears on YouTube. The long-awaited game itself will release on November 19th.

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 the privilege of making games.

We look forward to sharing more with you soon.

Update, August 26th: Added a note about the latest leak.