Former Rockstar North director Obbe Vermeij has commented on the many GTA 6 leaks that have emerged over the past week. Vermeij, who was the technical director for GTA 3, GTA: San Andreas, GTA 4, and other titles in the series, told everyone to “clam down” because “the leaks are a nothing burger.”
He said Rockstar is intentionally staying quiet as part of the company’s marketing strategy to generate as much hype as possible for GTA 6, and the leaks are not prompting Rockstar to amend its plans. That’s no surprise, as a recent report specifically said Rockstar was not going to alter its marketing plans for GTA 6 due to the spate of leaks coming to light. The Netflix premiere of the game’s “extended look” remains scheduled for August 27.
Vermeij said the leaks are no big deal in part because “90% of future players don’t spend their time on the internet looking for video snippets.” He added, “They don’t have the time and don’t want spoilers.”
He went on to say the development teams working on GTA 6 are probably “a little annoyed about [the leaks] but not more than that.”
Vermeij pointed out that he was working at Rockstar the time of the infamous “Hot Coffee” situation surrounding GTA: San Andreas. He said this was a “nightmare” for Rockstar’s management team in New York, but didn’t affect the developers themselves in Edinburgh at Rockstar North.
“The current leaks are far less consequential than Hot Coffee was,” he said. “It looks like GTA 6 will be phenomenal and sell for the next 15 years or so. The leaks are just a tiny blip.”
One of gaming’s biggest controversies ever, the Hot Coffee situation saw Rockstar owner Take-Two paying out money to settle suits related to a mod in GTA: San Andreas’ PC edition that unlocked an interactive sex minigame.
Hillary Clinton, then a Senator from New York, called on the Federal Trade Commission to launch an inquiring into the Hot Coffee mod. Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser said the scandal was “draining and upsetting” for the company.
The latest batch of GTA 6 leaks began earlier this month, with gameplay footage claiming to be from the open-world game showing off all manner of characters, activities, and possible new features. One of the latest leaks shows main character Jason visiting what appears to be a nudist colony. Another leak showed that players may need to manually refill their cars with gas. Still other leaks suggested that GTA 6 may have a form of currency that can be traded IRL.
Rockstar and Take-Two have yet to identify the person or people responsible for the leak. Whoever they may be, they appear to have access to the game.
In 2022, GTA 6 suffered its first major leak of gameplay footage. The autistic 18-year-old suspect was apprehended and ordered to live in a secure hospital for life. In July this year, it was reported that the person, Arion Kurtaj, left the secure hospital and is now in a “normal prison” awaiting a new trial.