After GTA 6 leak rumors gathered momentum, fans now think they've been pranked

Two off-screen videos that claim to show Grand Theft Auto 6’s map have gone viral on TikTok ahead of the game’s imminent reveal on December 5 - and the aftermath has left the community bewildered. 

GTA 6 “leaks" are as common as oxygen on the internet, but finding real ones is a rarer sight. The two brief clips circulating online are slightly different, however, since Rockstar Games has seemingly been striking them off the internet for the past day. Those who prefer to watch the incoming trailer with fresh eyes should take care online as reposts are also making the rounds (though the seven seconds of footage shouldn’t spoil your appetite too much.)

The TikTok video case took a stranger turn when a Reddit post popped up with the same handle as the original leaks. “IAMA TikToker, I made it via Unreal Engine 5 for some attention,” the now-deleted thread reads. The Redditor’s account was only created shortly after the TikTok leaks, already raising some eyebrows, but the claims led to some mild community frenzy as players went back and forth on the post’s legitimacy. 

Regardless, if a shaky cam recording showing mere seconds of the map can gain this much traction, the full reveal next Tuesday should be enormous. Our slim clip diet can be replaced with a full, juicy trailer when Rockstar debuts the game at 9AM ET / 6AM PT / 2PM GMT.

We don’t (officially) know too much about the open-world blockbuster, but the game did suffer from significantly more dramatic leaks in 2022 when development kit footage surfaced online. Those hefty leaks showed protagonists, locations, in-development tech, and more - but who knows what’s changed since then?

For now, fans think Rockstar’s teaser image points to a Miami-inspired Vice City setting.