GTA 6 Leaks That Change Everything

"Grand Theft Auto 6" is easily one of the most anticipated games of all time. Even though "GTA 5" is more than a decade old, it still has tons of active players, and all of them are desperately awaiting the sequel. Luckily for them, Rockstar is known for upping the ante on realism and player expression with every one of its releases. That alone is enough to make gamers everywhere excited at the possibilities for Rockstar's next game.

Of course, we don't have just Rockstar's treck record to go on. Thanks to various leaks and even patent filings, we actually have some insider info about what "GTA 6" is going to look like, and it's got us more excited. Fans are already crafting elaborate theories that we hope to god are true, and it's more than likely that Rockstar is still going to over-deliver and surprise us all. There's still plenty of time to wait, but anticipation and speculation is half the fun. To tide you over until Rockstar gives you another look at what "GTA 6" has in store, here are some of the game-changing details that have been pieced together from the various leaks over the years.

It's all but guaranteed that "GTA 6" will be Rockstar's biggest game to date. Fans already think that "GTA 6" could be more than twice the size of "GTA 5," but when it comes to calculating the size of the map, there's one detail that needs to be carefully considered: the buildings in each city. Every "GTA" game has increased the amount of businesses and homes that you can fully explore, and there are some signs that "GTA 6" will have the most realistic city in the franchise.

Years before "GTA 6" was even announced, a leaked memo from inside Rockstar revealed that the developer was thinking up ways to allow players to explore every building in a "GTA" game. At the time, the devs were thinking about shrinking the size of the game's overall map to make that happen, but now they might not have to. Random generation is only getting more popular and useful in development as time goes on. Games like "No Man's Sky" can generate entire solar systems in this way, so Rockstar might lean on that kind of tech to create more explorable buildings. This could also factor into the truly wild plans that are seemingly in place for the NPCs in "GTA 6."

The goal with opening up the "GTA 6" map as much as possible is to make Vice City feel truly alive. Of course, making explorable buildings is only half the battle there. The city needs to be filled with realistic NPCs to make it feel lived-in, and Rockstar is already ahead of the curve on that front. Anyone who's played "Red Dead Redemption 2" can tell you that Rockstar has a solid handle on giving NPCs realistic behaviors and schedules, but fans have spotted a detail that makes it seem like the NPCs in "GTA 6" will be out of this world.

In early 2024, fans noticed that Take-Two Interactive filed a patent for a type of AI technology that could help its NPCs feel much more like real people. The system that Take-Two patented allows for NPCs to more realistically navigate the world around them and respond more organically to what's going on. Much like in "Red Dead 2," NPCs may have full schedules that they follow, but in theory, more advanced AI could help the NPCs respond like real humans when we players lead a high speed car chase right through the middle of their morning commute. Hopefully, that means no more NPCs who walk into walls or get stuck in bushes, nor will they suddenly start screaming when they somehow sense you take out your gun from a block-and-a-half away.

The "GTA 6" trailer shows the streets and beaches of Vice City absolutely overflowing with activity and NPCs fully interacting with each other. That could be something we see a lot of in the final game, but we'll have to wait until we see some in-depth gameplay footage before we can be sure that Rockstar has managed to raise the bar for realistic NPCs once again.

Diehard fans have always enjoyed roleplaying in "Grand Theft Auto," but it especially took off with "GTA Online." With such a richly detailed world and all of its built-in multiplayer mechanics, "GTA" players finally got a perfect outlet for their roleplaying dreams. If "GTA 6" is going to have a bigger and more realistic map with tons of unique NPC interactions, then it makes sense that roleplaying will become an even bigger part of the "GTA" experience. One of the biggest hints that Rockstar is prioritizing roleplaying came in the 2022 "GTA 6" leaks. From those, we discovered that Rockstar has built more than 1,500 unique world events into the game. There's no telling if all of them will be interactive or even added into the final game, but obviously Rockstar is looking for more ways to help players immerse themselves in this world. 

That wasn't always the company's biggest priority, however. Rockstar initially pushed back against modders adding roleplaying systems to "GTA Online" before making a full turnaround and purchasing Cfx.re, one of the most popular RP mod-makers, in August 2023. We don't know all of the specifics of what Rockstar is planning to do for roleplayers, but we do know its a major focus for the devs. When Rockstar acquired Cfx.re, it released a statement saying, "By partnering with the Cfx.re team, we will help them find new ways to support this incredible [roleplaying] community and improve the services they provide to their developers and players." Expect major roleplaying mechanics to be a day-one inclusion in "GTA 6."

For quite some time, we've been pretty certain that "GTA 6" will feature two main characters. The leaks suggested that Lucia and Jason will be equally important as protagonists, and even though the trailer didn't give us many concrete details about them (or confirm Jason's name), we've seen enough to draw some conclusions.

One small detail from the massive "GTA 6" leak back in 2022 could have big gameplay implications. In the leaks, we saw that "GTA 6" apparently has a character swapping system that's even more seamless than what we got in "GTA 5." Since the new game is narrowing its focus to just two characters, players might be encouraged to swap more often to overcome specific in-game challenges.

What's arguably even more important than the gameplay aspects of the "GTA 6" duo is their relationship in the story. "GTA 6" is clearly telling some kind of Bonnie and Clyde tale, as the trailer sells the idea that Lucia and Jason are romantically involved. Rockstar's never been big on romance, and this is the first time that a couple is truly taking center stage in a Rockstar story. It should be interesting to see how that love story plays out and what effect players will be able to have on it. Judging by the overall tone of the series, we probably shouldn't hold our breaths for a fairy tale ending.