Rockstar Games Confirms Grand Theft Auto VI Leaks, Says It Won't Disrupt Development

Rockstar Games released a statement Monday confirming the validity of Grand Theft Auto VI leaks that went viral on social media over the weekend.

Around 50 minutes of rough footage leaked on GTAForums over the weekend, with a hacker claiming to have even more extended footage and sensitive information related to Rockstar's most popular franchise.

Most of the gameplay footage was in its infancy, featuring placeholder text and green-screen character movement. However, one extended scene was seemingly deep into development and showed a female character named Lucia committing a robbery at a diner.

The footage confirmed rumors there would be a female playable character for the first time in Grand Theft Auto history. Rumors of a return to the famed Vice City, which is a fictionalized version of Miami, were also confirmed by the leak.

First launched in 1997, Grand Theft Auto is one of the most successful video game series in history. While controversial in its content, GTA does massive financial business for Rockstar and has been an overwhelming critical success.

The development of GTA VI has already been fraught with issues, highlighted by delays and changes in Rockstar management. Grand Theft Auto V came out all the way back in 2013. While there have been subsequent updates and an online world introduced, Rockstar missed an entire console generation cycle with the new game's slow development.

Some fans were already critical of the leaked footage, saying it does not look on par with modern games. Suffice it to say, this was not a banner week at Rockstar headquarters.