Rockstar developers react to the GTA 6 trailer leak: "Well, that f***ing sucks"

Dec. 5, 2023

“I was hoping to watch this for the first time tomorrow along with my fellow teammates and coworkers. I feel we deserved that moment.”

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The GTA 6 trailer leaked earlier this evening,prompting Rockstar to upload the official version of the trailermore than 12 hours ahead of a schedule that would have seen it premiere tomorrow morning. As is often the case when it comes to major leaks, there’s a strong sense of disappointment emanating from the people who planned to show the trailer off in a particular way,

The sentiment was arguably summed up best by Lloyd Knott, lead VFX artist at Rockstar, who simply tweeted “that fucking sucks,” but it’s been somewhat more politely put by some of their colleagues.

Senior game designer Phil Beveridgesaidthat it “would have been nice to do this with all of you at the same time.” Senior gameplay animator Javier Altmanechoedthat idea, with “I was hoping to watch this for the first time tomorrow along with my fellow teammates and coworkers. I feel we deserved that moment.“Other developershave hadsimilar thingstosay about the leak, suggesting that there’s plenty of frustration, however well-meaning, within the studio.

Several devs, including both Altman and Knott did encourage fans to enjoy the trailer regardless, but they’re not the first people in the industry to suggest that this is an unfortunate situation. Wheninformation that the trailer was on its way was first reported last month, Halo community manager John Junyszek tweeted his sympathy for Rockstar developers whose hard work had been uncovered early. Similar sentiments tend to swirl around leaks ahead of major trade shows.

And of course, it might be an old joke, but it needs to be said:

Regardless of what the Rockstar developers think, however, the trailer is here, and it’s here to stay, and while it’san unfortunate road to release for the GTA 6 trailer - but ultimately one of the most exciting ever.

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I’m GamesRadar’s news editor, working with the team to deliver breaking news from across the industry. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I’ve run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam’s latest indie hit.

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