Rockstar Games confirms GTA 6 leaks are real as fans rush to work out which ones

By insisting that it hasn’t been sacking developers for joining a union, Rockstar has inadvertently given clues as to which GTA 6 leaks are real.

It may be the most anticipated title in video game history but there has been precious little information, either official or unofficial, about Grand Theft Auto 6 ever since it was announced.

In the last few months, it’s mostly been in the news over allegations of union-busting at Rockstar Games, where the developer claim they sacked people for leaking secrets and not for trying to unionise.

The issue was serious enough that questions were asked in Parliament, but the very obvious flaw in Rockstar’s argument is that there have been no leaks of any note in the last year or so. Or at least that’s what everyone thought at first…

According to Rockstar, they fired over 30 employees in 2025 for leaking information on GTA 6 in an external channel, whose users included a games journalist and a developer from a rival company.

In a new statement to IGN, Rockstar insists that, ‘we took necessary action against a group of individuals across the UK and Canada who discussed highly confidential information, including relating to game features from upcoming and unannounced titles, in an insecure and public social channel.’

While there’s no way to verify any of Rockstar’s claims (whoever that games journalist is supposed to be, they haven’t spoken up) they also mention a number of other specific incidents, in an attempt to prove that sacking people for leaking information is something they’ve always done.

Rockstar claims that they sacked someone in the US in November 2023 for leaking information, as well as some in Lincoln in April 2025, and an employee in India in November 2025.

“Rockstar has pointed to its well-established zero tolerance approach to leaks, highlighting that it dismissed a Rockstar employee in Lincoln, UK in April 2025, who it alleged disclosed confidential information about GTA 6 to a third party who published the information to social…

— ben (@videotechuk_) January 8, 2026

Based on those specific dates, fans have gone back through internet chatter at the time and tried to work out what that information was – information which is now technically confirmed by Rockstar to be true, or at least true at the time that they fired the employee.

The 2023 firing seems to relate to a leak posted on Reddit, which was largely ignored at the time. You can find the details here but it’s very minor stuff about the story and gameplay mechanics and it’s no wonder little attention was paid to it.

The most substantial piece of new information is that there’s apparently a new mechanic somewhat similar to the dead eye targeting system from Red Dead Redemption 2.

Rockstar is perfectly within their rights to sack people for leaking information but, as ever, you have to question why anyone would risk their job over such trivial details. Especially as most of the leaked information wasn’t widely disseminated.

It’s less clear what the other rumours were but fans have connected one or more to leaks from a source called GameRoll, who revealed the surnames of the main characters before they were officially announced.

Again, you’ve got to wonder why someone felt it was so important to leak that information to the world, but they did reveal a number of other pieces of information.

We’ll leave it up to you as to whether you want to read them, as technically some are spoilers – although none of it is especially mind-blowing and some of it is as simple as ‘driving is best it’s ever been’.

However, the most interesting detail is another mention of a mechanic similar to the dead eye system, with both sources indicating that GTA 6 takes quite a bit of inspiration from Red Dead Redemption 2 in how it plays.

There is no guarantee that these are the leaks that the employees were sacked for but there have been so few over the years that the chances are good.

That said, not all leaks always get noticed. If a leaker doesn’t have much of a following their information can end up being completely ignored, even if it’s true.

The most famous example of this, is footage of a Prince Of Persia reboot, which was leaked onto YouTube in 2012 but which nobody noticed until 2020.

So perhaps there’s also GTA 6 leaks floating around that have been similarly ignored, or dismissed as fakes. Rockstar insists that the truth is out there, but sorting the facts from the fiction is not going to be easy.

Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter.

To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.

For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.

MORE: The US is falling out of love with video game consoles as Switch 2 sales plummet

MORE: Fallout: New Vegas developer working on four new games as Avowed comes to PS5

MORE: Games Inbox: Will GTA 6 be delayed until 2027?