Grand Theft Auto 6 is actually being rocked by massive leaks right now. A former Rockstar developer, however, is taking it in stride and drawing a comparison to “Hot Coffee.”
The mysterious user Cyberleek is currently causing a stir—and massive damage—with his leaks aboutGTA 6– but not everyone sees it as such a big deal. A former Rockstar developer has now spoken out and made it clearthat he can only laugh at the leaks himself. Compared to the “Hot Coffee” scandal of 2005, they are completelyharmless
.
Actually, the gameplay premiere of Grand Theft Auto 6 was planned as a major event for August 27. However, a leaker apparently got their hands on the game early and began posting gameplay footage online. They’re even said to have a playable build and thus anendless source
of new leaks. This is dramatic and frustrating for publisher Take-Two and the developers at Rockstar.
At least, that’s what one might think. But a Rockstar veteran provocatively asks on X what all the fuss is about.For him, the situationis a non-issue and harmless
, especially compared to the “Hot Coffee” controversy from 2005, the biggest GTA scandal ever.
GTA 6 will still sell for 15 years
The poster isObbe Vermeij, who worked on GTA 3, Vice City, San Andreas, and GTA 4 as Technical Director and spent a total of 14 years at developer Rockstar:
Calm down, everyone. The leaks are a non-issue.
As a marketing strategy, R* is trying to keep the game under wraps longer than other publishers. All that has happened is that some footage has leaked. Slightly ahead of the Netflix announcement next week.
90% of future players…
— Obbe Vermeij (@ObbeVermeij) August 22, 2026
He explains that the controversy is currently being blown out of proportion—especially by those who are constantly online.However, the leak wouldn’t affect most players and fans at all:
Rockstar’s marketing strategy is to keep the game under wraps longer than other publishers do. Only a small amount of material has been leaked to the public—just ahead of next week’s Netflix premiere. Ninety percent of future players don’t spend their time online searching for video clips. They don’t have time for it, and they don’t want spoilers.
He goes on to say that the developers are certainly annoyed by this, but that’s about it.& nbsp;He also draws a comparison toHot Coffee
and explains that back then it was a real nightmare for management, with far-reaching consequences. Something that, in his opinion, isn’t the case now:
It looks like GTA 6 is going to be phenomenal and will keep selling for the next 15 years or so.
Rockstar’s biggest scandalwas much worse
If you’ve never heard ofHot Coffee
, here’s a quick summary: The scandal he’s referring to involved GTA: San Andreas at the time. In 2005, modders discovered code for anexplicit, interactive sex minigame that wasn’t supposed to be there.
Nevertheless, fans were able to activate the content, which earned the game an “Adult Only” (i.e., 18+) rating from the ESRB. Retailers also pulled San Andreas from shelves, which in 2005 is estimated to have resulted inover 50 million in lost revenue for Rockstar, as well as an additional 20 million in costs in 2009 as compensation in a class-action lawsuit.
Due to the recent leak, Rockstar even lost an incredible $2 billion in market value. Not everyone is likely to agree with Vermeiji that the leak is just hot air. However, he is correct in that leaks generally do not cause highly anticipated games to sell less or stop selling altogether.
In fact, the hype surrounding GTA 6 didn’t die down after the first leaks in 2022—it only intensified.
GTA 6 is set to release on November 19, 2026, for Xbox Series and PS5; a PC version is expected to follow later, as was the case with its predecessor, GTA 5. This time around, the action returns to Vice City and its surroundings—the virtual Miami. For the first time, we won’t just be playing as a male protagonist (or multiple ones), but as a gangster couple searching for happiness and, of course, a windfall. In addition to heist missions, open-world exploration, and car theft, there will likely be plenty of mini-games and small side activities on offer.
