The first Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer later confirmed some of the details that were leaked about the upcoming game in September 2022.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is one of the most highly anticipated games of the past decade. Whenever the upcoming open-world third-person shooter is mentioned, the collective internet hive mind can only talk about GTA 6—except for Rockstar Games.
Back in September 2022, sensitive details about GTA 6 found their way online, and everybody lost their minds.
However, Rockstar stayed mostly silent all throughout, addressing the GTA 6 leaks only once and leaving it at that. Apparently, there's a reason for this.
In a recent interview with San In Play, Obbe Vermeij, the technical director for Grand Theft Auto III all the way through Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, downplayed the significance of the GTA 6 leaks, saying, "The leaks are usually not as important as people think."
Vermeij explained that companies such as Rockstar keep quiet to avoid feeding fan speculation, saying the public has a tendency to turn their statements into a "negative thing," which is why it's in their best interest to "keep quiet."
And he's right. More often than not, everything a company says and doesn't say will inevitably have a negative spin. Case in point: In the same interview, Vermeij had also mentioned that GTA 6 might disappoint some fans. Others took it negatively, even though he did make an excellent point about the jump from Grand Theft Auto 5 to GTA 6.
Having worked on the OG GTAtrilogy and Grand Theft Auto 4, Vermeij has first-hand experience with what it's like to see the games evolve over the years.
As for the GTA 6 leaks, it isn't technically correct to say that Rockstar has kept silent all this time. If anything, all of its subtle nods, references, and Easter Eggs are just as much to blame for the hype surrounding GTA 6.
Granted, fans often overreach. For example, over the weekend, everyone was sure that Rockstar was hinting at the possible reveal date of the next GTA 6 trailer following the latest GTA Online update. Before that, others insisted that a new GTA 6 trailer would arrive around the same time Take-Two Interactive holds its next earnings call. But, at the same time, can you really blame them? After a random set of numbers on a shirt contained the release date of the first GTA 6 trailer months ahead of its release, everything Rockstar adds to the game is a clue for GTA 6.
Whether or not these speculations and rumor-mongering will amount to something remains to be seen.
For now, we can only confirm that the first GTA 6 trailer is now the second-most-watched video game trailer of all time, and the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike won't delay the game's progress. Take-Two Interactive also seems to believe that GTA 6 will be a massive upgrade over GTA 5, saying that it will set a new "creative benchmark" for the entire entertainment industry.
GTA 6 is currently scheduled for a Fall 2025 release.
