GTA 6 leak was "terribly disappointing" but wont affect development, says Take-Two CEO

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The sequel is still years away from releasing, but at least the leak didn't make it even more years away

The three playable characters having an exchange in GTA 5
(Image credit: Rockstar Games)

The GTA 6 leak from September didn't affect the game's development, according to publisher Take-Two Interactive.

If you've been following GTA 6 at all, you're probably aware that a massive leak revealed over 90 videos and screenshots mined from a test build of the game. The leak helped nobody and accomplished nothing, but thankfully it sounds like it also didn't do any harm to GTA 6's development. At least, that's according to the CEO of GTA publisher Take-Two Interactive, Strauss Zelnick, who said as much during the company's recent earnings call.

"With regards to the leak, it was terribly unfortunate, and we take those sorts of incidents very seriously indeed," Zelnick said. "There's no evidence that any material assets were taken, which is a good thing, and certainly the leak won't have any influence on development or anything of the sort. But it is terribly disappointing, and causes us to be ever more vigilant on matters relating to cybersecurity."

A leak as big as the one Zelnick is referring to can do a lot of damage to a game's development and ultimately lead to delays, so it's a happy surprise to hear progress on GTA 6 apparently wasn't hampered at all. It still sucks for the developers, the publishers, the marketers, the PR people, the journalists having to cover the leak and potentially expose themselves to spoilers, and players eager to go into the experience fresh, but at least it hasn't resulted in a delay (yet).

In case you missed it, the teenager charged in connection with the GTA 6 leak pleaded "not guilty" back in September.

Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.