According to Obbe Fermeij, former technical director of Rockstar Games, the gameplay leaks of GTA 6 should not affect the development or commercial success of the project. He noted on social media that the distribution of files is 'insignificant' to the company's structure.
Fermeij, who worked on games such as GTA 3, Vice City, San Andreas, and GTA 4, believes that the leaks are more concerning to the marketing team and company management. This is because Rockstar adheres to a more closed promotion strategy and rarely reveals many images of its games.
He explained that what happened was merely that some footage leaked shortly before the announcement with Netflix. Furthermore, Fermeij added that most players do not follow videos and leak discussions daily, which reduces the potential commercial impact.
These statements came amid attempts by the parent company Take-Two Interactive to stop the leaks of small, authentic fragments of the game. In recent days, an individual or group called 'Cyberleek' has begun publishing game materials before the official release, which is scheduled in partnership with Netflix on Thursday (08/27).
The leakers justify their actions as a protest against the delay of the official gameplay demonstration and against the release of the game without a physical version. The game box that will arrive in stores will not contain discs, only a download code.
If Rockstar does not change its strategy, the group promises to release a playable build to the public. This term refers to a functional version of the game used during development for testing features and fixing bugs before release. Typically, it is still far from the final version that will reach players.
According to Fermeij, the average user is unlikely to be able to run a test build, as such versions depend on specific development resources and settings. Nevertheless, the former developer finds Rockstar's actions to find violators understandable, as the leak 'disrupts the strategy' of the company, although he maintains that 'the damage will not be great, if any.'
Take-Two has filed copyright notices and requested court orders against Discord and Microsoft in an attempt to trace the source of the leaks, which continued on Monday (08/24) with the demonstration of an exposed area within the game.
GTA 6 has already collected over $400 million in pre-orders (about 2 billion rubles), according to GameSpot. The game is slated for release on November 19 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. In Brazil, the standard version costs 449.90 reais.
As a comparison, the former director mentioned the Hot Coffee incident as an example of a situation that would have caused a much bigger crisis for Rockstar and Take-Two. GTA: San Andreas (2004) had a mechanic where the main character CJ's girlfriends invited him to 'have coffee' after successful dates. However, developers internally created a mini-game allowing sexual simulation but removed it from the final version. Hot Coffee, as it was called, was found in the game code and later published by modders, causing a major controversy in the United States. Criticism forced a change in the game's age rating, which, according to estimates, led to losses for Rockstar of approximately $50 million (257 million rubles at the current exchange rate). 'I was there during Hot Coffee. It was a nightmare,' Fermeij stated.