Everything confirmed in the GTA 6 leak, including setting, characters, and combat
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A huge amount of leaked GTA 6 footage has surfaced online, confirming numerous details about the highly anticipated crimefest.
The leaked footage, which spans a huge range of work-in-progress gameplay, gives us our first glimpse of GTA 6 in action – albeit in a completely unpolished state. Gunplay and other gameplay features are shown, while character and setting details are suggested in the environment.
It’s all very unfinished. The images are covered in debugging information and technical statistics and are clearly from an ongoing build of the game. But it is genuine. Rockstar confirmed that the leaked images are authentic and asked for many of the videos and screenshots shared on social media to be removed.
That leaves us sewing together what exactly is attached.
Vice City is back
The footage confirms a leak from earlier this year and suggests that GTA 6 will take place in Vice City – Grand Theft Auto’s fictional version of Miami. The clips show numerous city signs and buildings with the words “Vice City” and “VCPD” written on the side of police cars (presumably an initialism for Vice City Police Department).
But GTA 6 seems to be set in a modern version of the city. While 2002’s Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was set in the mid-’80s, the presence of smartphones and modern-looking cars suggests that GTA 6 will bring the metropolis to the present. Although it is not just the city that you will explore. Some rural areas are also shown, as well as what appears to be a swamp. Some well-known locations will also return, including the Malibu Club and the Ocean View hotel.
Combination of two characters
The images suggest that GTA 6 will feature two protagonists, as well as the series’ first female lead character. That’s consistent with an earlier leak, which hinted at the game’s double leads and suggested Rockstar approached the characters with more political sensibility than in other games.
The footage shows a Latina woman named Lucia, according to the debug info, and her accomplice Jason. They were previously described as a Bonnie and Clyde-type couple, and these images certainly lean on that. A leaked video shows the criminal duo robbing a restaurant, holding the cashier and escaping while the police arrive. Bonnie and Clyde are even mentioned by name in one of the debug menus.
fighting talk
Gunplay is similar to that of GTA 5, with a few new toys and features thrown in. The player is seen wielding a variety of weapons – including an assault rifle, sniper, shotgun, pistol, and rocket launcher – in addition to improvised weapons – such as a golf club, baseball bat, and crowbar. At some point, they throw their active weapon to their other hand and grab a rifle from the floor to add to their inventory – both are new features.
Looks like you’ve got some new moves to play with too. A leaked video showed the player leaning his entire torso out of a car window while aiming an assault rifle in a full 360-degree circle. Elsewhere, the player moves forward, crouching in cover and carrying an NPC over his shoulder. That could make for sneakier, more stealth-focused gunfights.
A new radial weapon selection screen is also featured. It appears to display some sort of health kit or medicine, suggesting that players can heal or buff themselves mid-battle.
Lots of Easter eggs
Even this leaked footage shows a few callbacks and easter eggs fans will recognize it from the wider GTA universe. Expect many of the games’ in-world companies to return, with LTD Gasoline already making an appearance. LifeInvader – GTA’s ironic social media platform and thinly veiled parody of Facebook – is also popping up.
Five stars or bust
As expected, GTA 6 will feature the series’ main Wanted levels. The images show a five-star system like that of GTA 5, confirming that GTA 6 will not return to the six-star system that previous entries in the series had.
But the police have had an upgrade. If the police see you entering a stolen vehicle, they will look for you even after you make your first escape. It’s lifelike — after all, cars have license plates — and suggests you need to think more about dodging the law.
Character customization
While the leaks didn’t fully reveal GTA 6’s character customization features, at least we got confirmation of their existence. Lucia, the game’s main female character, is shown wearing various outfits and hairstyles, confirming that your strands and hair can be customized. It’ll be interesting to see the depth of GTA 6’s character customization options after Saints Row relied heavily on the feature with its detailed boss factory earlier this year.