A new GTA VI "leak" has fans excited, but it turns out to be a clever fake

Another round of rumors surrounding GTA VI stirred up the gaming community after the release of a short video purportedly demonstrating the global map, interface elements, and the mechanics for switching between protagonists Jason and Lucia. The video, posted by the account Grand Theft Auto 6 Informer, was quickly removed at the request of the copyright holder, sparking a wave of speculation about its authenticity. Fans reasoned: if Rockstar was responding so quickly, then the video must be real.

The deleted footage showed an interface reminiscent of the character-switching system from the fifth game, as well as a list of skills including a special ability, stamina, shooting, strength, stealth, driving, piloting, and lung capacity. This set of stats hinted at an RPG progression familiar to fans of the series. After the initial deletion, the account reuploaded the footage, and it remained available for some time, fueling the excitement.

However, the enthusiasm proved premature. A well-known community data miner, ben, quickly exposed the fake, pointing out clear signs of counterfeiting. He noted that the menu shown used images generated by neural networks, and the text contained spelling errors typical of poorly written prompts. Furthermore, genuine Rockstar Games test builds always feature a black bar at the bottom of the screen, which was not present in the video. The menu itself, according to the expert, looked particularly outdated and did not meet modern development standards.

This situation once again confirmed the vicious cycle within the GTA VI fan community. Rockstar doesn't spoil the public with new content, so any fragment—real or fake—is instantly shared online. Parent company Take-Two Interactive has been issuing strikes against leaks and mods for years, and players perceive each such instance as indirect confirmation of authenticity, even if the content is clearly fake.

As a reminder, the long-awaited action game is scheduled for release in November 2026 exclusively for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles. PC users, as is often the case with Rockstar titles, will have to be patient: the publisher traditionally waits for console sales to build before releasing the PC version.