Footage from an early build of 'Grand Theft Auto VI' has leaked online, causing an online storm.
A major leak showed up online in the early hours of Sunday morning, with around 50 minutes of footage made available.
Captured on PS4 and PC, the gameplay footage verified information that was already known by the public, along with some new information.
The two protagonists are called Jason and Lucia, which backs up earlier claims that the game takes inspiration from Bonnie and Clyde.
Other life-of-quality improvements have been added to the game, such as the police remembering what car you used, guns can be switched between hands, the player can go prone, players can carry people on their shoulders which we imagine would work in the context of the game's focus on robberies.
The footage has been verified as real by Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier, who was the first journalist to get the inside scoop on the direction of the game earlier this summer.
Leaked footage verifies Schreier's report from earlier this summer that the game will have a playable female protagonist, robbery will have a major part in the gameplay, and a return to Vice City is on the cards.
Of course, we would post this no doubt exciting footage but Rockstar are hard at work clamping down on any videos or photos that show off the gameplay or any other leaked assets.
One video that did the rounds on Twitter showed a 'Pulp Fiction' style robbery, and while the game is still in the early stages, placeholder assets showed plenty of contextual buttons that allowed players to interact with NPCs.
Other videos showed the two playable characters wonder around what appears to be an updated version of Vice City.
For those who saw the gameplay, it is clear that the game is still in the very early stages of development and is still a long way from release, but the game is playable in a very rudimentary state.
The hacker claims to have access to the source code for 'Grand Theft Auto V' and 'Grand Theft Auto VI' which could have major implications for the game's release.
Gamers with a long memory may recall the source code for 'Half-Life 2' being leaked in late 2003 and causing the game's release to be delayed, but a leak on this scale is unprecedented in the history of gaming.
Rockstar Games are notorious for only releasing footage and official communications about their games in drip-feed form, and a leak on this level is pretty much unheard of in the history of gaming.
The source code being in the hands of a third party is uncharted territory for the gaming industry, especially a game at the level of a 'Grand Theft Auto' game.
Sources indicate that Rockstar are in direct communication with the hacker, who is demanding a "5-figure sum" for the return of the source code, but should the source code leak, this would open a whole can of worms for Rockstar.
The leak released nearly 10,000 lines of code related to the game, which is a major headache for Rockstar.
'Grand Theft Auto VI' will be the first entry in the 'Grand Theft Auto' series since 2013's 'Grand Theft Auto V' which is among the 5 best-selling video games of all time.
Despite being a major hit, the game has received ridicule for being released across 3 different console generations with minuscule updates each time and still charging full price, along with Rockstar abandoning promised single-player content in favour of 'Grand Theft Auto Online', which has become a major cash cow for Rockstar.
Even in the early stages of the games life (the footage obtained shows clips from 2018 and 2021), 'Grand Theft Auto VI' has stolen the spotlight and has become the biggest gaming controversy of the year.
Rockstar addressed the controversy on Monday, saying "we do not anticipate any disruption to our live game services nor any long-term effect on the development of our ongoing projects."
The statement read "we are extremely disappointed to have any details of our next game shared with you this way," but added "our work on the next 'Grand Theft Auto' game will continue as planned."
