Rockstar Games is one of the industry's most popular and celebrated developers, and so fans are always wondering what's next from the company. And with Red Dead Redemption 2 having released nearly three years ago at this point, it's safe to say that many Rockstar Games fans are growing impatient, and this in turn has resulted in the Internet being flooded with all kinds of fake leaks, rumors, and speculation.
The latest leak claims that Rockstar Games is working on Grand Theft Auto 6, but that it won't necessarily be the next game from the company. If the leak is to be believed, a Red Dead Redemption remaster will actually be coming first, but fans should treat this claim and all the others in the leak with a huge grain of salt. There is no evidence that this leak is accurate, and in fact, it's almost certainly a complete fabrication.
Here is why the latest Grand Theft Auto 6 leak is almost certainly fake.
It's Too Early
One of the big claims in the Grand Theft Auto 6 leak is the game's release window. According to the leaker, the Grand Theft Auto 6 release date will be sometime in October of 2023, which is over two years from now. This is one of the first claims noted in the Reddit post that collected the information, and it's also one of the first red flags that should clue fans in to this particular GTA 6 leak being fake.
While some people at Rockstar may very well have a vague idea of when they are wanting to launch Grand Theft Auto 6, it's highly unlikely that October 2023 exists as an actual release window. There are deadlines and things in game development, but it's still unlikely that this specific of a release window exists. A more likely scenario would be Rockstar Games having nailed down the financial quarter that it plans on launching the game, but even that seems like a longshot if the game is truly not releasing for another two years.
So right off the bat, the Grand Theft Auto 6 leak makes a big claim that in turn makes the rest of it hard to believe. But there are other issues with the leak that fans should take note of.
Crossed Universes
Rockstar Games has made it clear that its Grand Theft Auto games exist in different universes. There is the 2D universe of GTA games, which comprise the original releases, and then the 3D universe, which includes Grand Theft Auto 3 through San Andreas, along with their associated spin-off games like Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories. And then there's the HD universe, which consists of Grand Theft Auto 4, its expansions, Chinatown Wars, and Grand Theft Auto 5.
Despite the fact that the Grand Theft Auto games exist in different universes, the leak claims that this new game will make direct references to characters from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Now, it's possible that Rockstar Games is going to go back to the 3D universe with Grand Theft Auto 6, though it doesn't really make much sense for it to do so. Another possibility is that Rockstar Games plans on launching a brand new Grand Theft Auto universe and bring forward characters from previous universes, but there's no precedent for this and so it seems unlikely.
The leak claims that Grand Theft Auto 6 will feature the character Ken Rosenberg, the sleazy lawyer from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. And not only that, but Ken Rosenberg will apparently mention Vice City protagonist Tommy Vercetti by name in the game. With the PS2-era Grand Theft Auto games separated from the more recent Grand Theft Auto games in terms of universe and storyline, it's hard to see how this would happen. The leaker says that this specific element will be what one day proves that their information was correct, though, so it will be interesting to see what happens.
Way Too Many Details
Possibly the biggest tip off that this Grand Theft Auto 6 leak is fake is the sheer breadth of information provided by it. There are simply way too many minute details in the leak for it to be plausible. There are so many claims, in fact, that some of the stuff in the leak could very well be accurate by sheer accident. Legitimate video game leaks have rarely provided this much information, and while there have been some notable exceptions, there's a far greater chance that this means the leak is fake.
Grand Theft Auto fans also need to evaluate the source of the information when it comes to this Grand Theft Auto 6 leak. The info comes from a 4chan AMA that was later compiled and posted on Reddit. Real video game leaks have originated from 4chan in the post, but no proof has been provided and so the best course of action is to treat this information with a lot of skepticism, and wait and see if it's later validated by actual announcements from Rockstar Games. If some things in the leak do start coming true, especially the weird claim about Ken Rosenberg and Tommy Vercetti, then fans may want to give the rest of it a closer look. For now, though, it can be safely ignored.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is rumored to be in development.