Rockstar Games has opened up about GTA 6 leaks and why they were so upsetting for its developers. In a new Bloomberg interview, the studio explained how having unfinished work shared online affected the team behind Grand Theft Auto VI.
Rockstar Explains Why the GTA 6 Leaks Hurt So Much
In an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, Rockstar Games reflected on the massive September 2022 leak that exposed dozens of videos of unfinished GTA 6 gameplay. While the footage gave fans their first unofficial look at the next Grand Theft Auto, it was a deeply uncomfortable experience for the people making it.
According to Rockstar head of development Aaron Garbut, the leak felt like an invasion of the team’s personal creative process. “It feels like somebody’s wading through your dirty washing,” Garbut told Bloomberg. “It’s like they’re inside your head. You see your early work out there. Nobody’s ever supposed to see that. It’s really weirdly invasive. And so it’s quite hard to deal with on an emotional level.”
The footage also circulated before the game was ready to be shown publicly. For developers who had spent years working on Grand Theft Auto VI, that meant having their early work judged before they had the chance to finish it. Garbut’s comments offer a more personal explanation of why the incident hurt so much.
Of course, this isn’t the first time Rockstar has addressed leaks publicly. In August, the studio issued an apology to fans after a string of GTA 6 footage leaked before the Extended Look. “It would be an understatement to say that having videos of Grand Theft Auto VI gameplay leak in this way has been heartbreaking for our team, and this is obviously not how we intended for you to see the game after all this time.”
— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) August 26, 2026
While Rockstar doesn’t many any new comments about the 2026 GTA 6 Leaks, the Bloomberg interview does give us some insight into how upsetting and challenging it has been for the team behind Grand Theft Auto VI.
Rockstar Says Its Next Release Won’t Take Another Eight Years
The interview also contains some promising news for fans wondering how long they’ll have to wait for whatever Rockstar makes next. According to Bloomberg, the studio’s leaders say their next release won’t take another eight years.
Rockstar head of development Phil Hooker explained that the technology and team built during GTA 6’s development should help the studio move faster in the future. “The engine, the tools and the team we’ve built during this project will allow us to do things more quickly,” Hooker said.
Garbut also revealed that Rockstar has already completed major foundational changes during this project. Going forward, the studio intends to build on that work rather than tear it apart and start again.
That doesn’t confirm GTA 7, a new Red Dead Redemption, or a release date for either. However, it suggests that the lengthy development of Grand Theft Auto VI has created a foundation Rockstar believes it can use to deliver future projects more quickly.
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