Developers of multiple big titles have been showing off early footage of their games following the major leaks at Rockstar. One of the biggest leaks in recent gaming history broke over the last few days when footage of Grand Theft Auto 6 was shown online after a hacker infiltrated Rockstar's systems. Plenty of gameplay footage from Grand Theft Auto 6 was shown, including images of the title's new female protagonist, the map for the game, and more.
As the Grand Theft Auto 6 leak made its way around the internet, many gamers began to voice their opinions on the early build of the upcoming title. Some were of the belief that considering this the footage likely came from a very early version of the game that this is a positive sign Rockstar has been making solid progress on Grand Theft Auto 6. However, there were those that thought the leaked clips and images represented a product near completion and critiqued the graphics of the game.
One infamous tweet online stated that "visuals are one of the first things done" in video game development. This led to many experienced video game developers setting out to disprove this claim by showing early footage of their titles. The official page for Cult of the Lamb posted a side-by-side comparison between the game's early build, showing some blocky, dull visuals, and its current state. Cult of the Lamb combines a cutesy aesthetic with dark themes centered around the player building their own cult. Releasing this year, Cult of the Lamb has proven to be Devolver Digital's latest hit, showing that successful games don't always look phenomenal in their early builds.
Beyond Cult of the Lamb showing off an early build, plenty of other games have seen their beginnings displayed in order to dispute the claim that Grand Theft Auto 6 should be sporting stunning graphics. Some early development footage of Control, Remedy's 2019 action-adventure game that won awards for visual design, showed strange, blocky structures, and a Jesse Faden that looks wildly different from what players may be used to. There was also an early version of the Thunderjaw from Horizon Zero Dawn, which looked more like a strange LEGO creature.
While these early development clips and images show that graphics are not the thing that is first finished in game development, this hasn't made the Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks any easier on Rockstar. While it is unlikely that the development of the next GTA has been held back by this leak, Rockstar are currently pursuing the hacker who unveiled the clips, having already taken down the original thread on GTAForums. It is likely this situation could also get very serious soon as even the FBI are looking into the Grand Theft Auto 6 leaker.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is in development.