Described as one of the biggest leaks in video-game history, the posting of stolen videos from the development of Grand Theft Auto 6 has left players and fans to unpack what they reveal about the forthcoming game. The videos were posted by a hacker who has also taken credit for the recent data breach at the Uber rideshare company; the videos were subsequently confirmed as authentic by Rockstar Games and its parent company, Take-Two Interactive. Consisting of about 50 total minutes of video showing animation and gameplay tests - including playable characters and NPCs, gunfights, vehicle chases, failed stunts, and more - the 90 leaked videos of GTA 6 also came complete with source code, a potentially disastrous exposure for the company. And there may be more to come - the person responsible for the leak has threatened to reveal more videos and code in the near future unless Rockstar is willing to make a deal.
The newest installment of the Grand Theft Auto franchise has been much anticipated and long in development. GTA 5 was released in 2013, and reports of a new addition to the series have been rumored since 2018, with various stories and leaks offering unconfirmed and sometimes contradictory information about the future game’s narrative, characters, setting, and connections to previous titles. Now it is feared that the release of GTA 6 - the date of which Rockstar has never announced, though recent copyright strikes suggested a coming GTA 6 reveal - may be delayed by this leak, which will likely cause internal slowdowns to development and push back the start of marketing and publicity for GTA 6.
Though entirely criminal and damaging not only to Rockstar but to fans of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, the leaked videos first posted to GTAForums by user teapotuberhacker offer a great deal of information about the content of GTA 6. The videos came mostly from early stages of game development and, as a consequence, were rough; developers typically use low resolution for testing animations and gameplay in the early stages, making some leaked content difficult to understand and assess. But, a close analysis reveals some interesting details about Grand Theft Auto 6's story, characters, setting, and time period that have long been the subject of speculation.
The Setting of Grand Theft Auto 6 May Be Vice City - Again
For some time, observers have speculated that GTA 6 might mark a return to south Florida, the location of 2002’s Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and the leaked videos suggest that may in fact be the case. The backgrounds certainly look like Vice City, with its elevated freeways, wide, palm-lined city streets, and expansive waterfront. The name Vice City can even be seen in a few places, including on the side of an underground metro car and on the front of a building labeled the Vice City Community Enhancement Center.
But GTA 6's setting might include other Florida locations as well. The police cars shown in the videos are from a place called Port Gellhorn, which could either be a suburb of Vice City or an entirely new setting for GTA. Furthermore, the phone number for the Port Gellhorn police, as shown on their cars, is a 305 area code, a south Florida exchange. Rockstar is known for clever in-game references, and in this case (as user Esconis points out on GTA Forums) Gellhorn could refer to Martha Gellhorn, the third wife of Ernest Hemingway, who met the famous author in Key West, Florida, and lived with him in Havana, Cuba. All of this suggests that GTA 6 may take place in multiple locations in the south Florida region and beyond, which would accord with earlier rumors about GTA 6’s Project Americas suggesting the map might be enormous and international, with the developers planning to add new cities and regions after the game has been released.
GTA 6 Has A Modern Day Setting, & Appears To Take Place After GTA 5
The time in which GTA 6 is set appears to be after GTA 5, with one conversation referring to the Lifeinvader plot from the series' last entry. NPCs can be seen using large-screened smartphones as they walk the streets, which suggests the 2010s or later. The vehicles on the streets show a mix, but this doesn't mean the game is set in the past. At one point a character is shown driving a car with a pickup bed, perhaps a Chevrolet El Camino - a classic Grand Theft Auto vehicle GTA 6 could bring back - which was manufactured between 1964 and 1987. But this car is no antique: the driver is shown trying (and failing) to launch it off a highway ramp and through a billboard shaped like a TV set, suggesting that the car has a powerful engine and capable suspension - not a junker, in other words, but a new vehicle, which would place the game sometime in the 1980s (the TV in the billboard is also an old CRT model). In another leaked scene there's a character shooting up an old station wagon, which, while not hinting at a historical setting, may serve to illustrate the contrasting wealth in GTA 6's open world - as was the case with GTA 5.
Perhaps most telling, in one scene in the quasi-Miami setting, GTA 6's female protagonist (see below) is shown preparing to rob a convenience store. In the window is a sign advertising cigarettes at around $4 a pack. That price in south Florida would put the game in the mid to late 2000s - a fact that would seem to be at odds with the cars and the cell phones. This could just be a placeholder however, as it seems highly likely at this stage that GTA 6 will follow GTA 5's approach and take place in or around the year of its launch.
GTA 6 Features Female & Male Protagonists
One thing that is clear from the leaked videos is that GTA 6 will have two main playable characters, and for the first time one of them will be a woman. Her name is Lucia, she appears to be Latina, and she promises to help players forget about Vice City's Tommy Vercetti in GTA 6. She dresses casually in blue jeans and a pink top, though in one video she is depicted in a black cocktail dress and heels. Her male counterpart is Jason, a young white man in a tank top. In another video, Jason is shown in a messy apartment with a filthy spa tub that may or may not belong to him. On the shelf is a white hard hat, suggesting that Jason might be a construction worker when he is not busy robbing convenience stores.
From the leaked videos, it would appear that Lucia and Jason start out separately but eventually come together. In one scene they are shown stealing a police car together and fleeing the scene of the crime with police in pursuit. Players will be able to switch between playable characters in different GTA 6 settings - a mechanic also featured in GTA 5 - as they rob a diner, visit a strip club, or slug innocent pedestrians on the street.
There is a lot to be learned from the leaked videos, many of which were later removed from the websites on which they had originally been posted. A quick study of them, though, reveals much about the setting and characters of Grand Theft Auto 6, confirming some earlier suppositions about the game while contradicting others. If the threat from the original leaker is fulfilled, there may be more leaked videos and more rumors coming, which will likely tell fans even more about what to expect when the game is eventually released.