Rarely do jokes write themselves so neatly: the developer behind the massively successful Grand Theft Auto series has suffered one of the biggest leaks in video game history.
On Sept. 18, a user by the name of “teapotuberhacker” began posting dozens upon dozens of (since removed) videos on GTAForums, an online discussion board for fans of Rockstar’s long-running, open-world, street crime-centric series. The clips showed some kind of game in mid-development — assets were in various states of readiness and tools usually limited to developers littered the screen — but the content of the footage (players robbing stores and fleeing police while non-playable characters spout unhinged dialogue) and their setting (southern Florida, possibly a fictionalized Miami) gave credence to teapotuberhacker’s claims: “Here are 90 footage/clips from (Grand Theft Auto) 6.”
It’s hard to overestimate the impact of such a leak. To date, Grand Theft Auto V has sold nearly 170 million copies. Three days after its release on Sept. 17, 2013, Rockstar had already grossed $1 billion in sales. Other than ongoing updates to Grand Theft Auto Online, the series’ first dedicated multiplayer release, and a terse February 2022 tweet, Rockstar had kept mum on the next entry to its record-breaking gaming empire — until forced to admit that the leak was genuine.
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