After a week of silence, Rockstar Games has spoken out about the leaked footage from the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI. In a statement on the X platform, the studio stated that having gameplay footage published in this manner is heartbreaking for the team. At the same time, it apologized for the long wait for further information. However, the text did not contain a single mention of the demands made by the attacker who caused the leaks.
"It would be an understatement to say that publishing gameplay videos of Grand Theft Auto VI in this manner was heartbreaking for our team, and it is definitely not the way we wanted to show you the game after such a long time. We are very sorry that everything is taking so long, from finishing the game (almost done already!) to sharing further details and official gameplay footage, to providing all the information you want to know," Rockstar's statement reads. The company added that even though gaming experiences might be affected by spoilers, it hopes fans will wait for the November 19 release.
The leaks began last week when a user operating under the handle Cyberleek started publishing them. In addition to gameplay footage, he also released a detailed map of the city Leonidas. It later turned out that the hacker had access to a complete, working version of the game. Proof of this was supposedly a "LEEK" sign spray-painted on a wall in the game. Rockstar remained silent throughout the entire affair, but its parent company Take-Two Interactive meanwhile asked Microsoft to release the device identifiers of members of three Discord servers.
The game will be released in less than three months on Xbox X|S and PlayStation 5 consoles. A PC version has not been announced yet. Meanwhile, files purporting to be leaks from GTA VI are appearing, which actually contain malware. Downloading pirate copies of the unreleased game is apparently very risky.