A former Rockstar technical director has dismissed this month’s GTA 6 leaks, calling the clips a “nothing burger” and “just a tiny blip” in the game’s long run.
Obbe Vermeij, technical director on GTA 3, Vice City, San Andreas and GTA 4, wrote the remarks on social media. Video Games Chronicle and IGN report that he expects the leaks to trouble Rockstar’s management more than its developers, since most of the game’s future players will never see the clips.
Why a former Rockstar dev calls the GTA 6 leaks a “nothing burger”
The footage began appearing last week from a group calling itself Cyberleek, days before GTA 6’s official Extended Look premieres on Netflix on August 27. Take-Two has answered with DMCA strikes and subpoenas to Microsoft and Discord, so far without stopping the clips.
“Calm down everybody. The leaks are a nothing burger,” he wrote. “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 escaped.”
“90% of future players don’t spend their time on the internet looking for video snippets. They don’t have the time and don’t want spoilers. I imagine the teams are a little annoyed about it but not more than that.”
Obbe Vermeij, former Rockstar technical director
Vermeij compared the episode with the Hot Coffee scandal), the hidden sex mini-game found in GTA San Andreas after its 2004 release, which brought intense legal backlash and an FTC warning.
“I was there during Hot Coffee. It was a nightmare for management (R\NewYork) but didn’t affect us (R\North) much. The current leaks are far less consequential than HC was.”
“It looks like GTA 6 will be phenomenal and sell for the next 15 years or so. The leaks are just a tiny blip.”
Obbe Vermeij
Does a leaked GTA 6 build exist
Vermeij also cast doubt on the reports of a playable PC build tied to Rockstar India. In his time at Rockstar, development builds needed a dev kit or an access dongle, and he suspects that is still the case.
“If that is the case, it probably only runs on a devkit,” he wrote. “Devkits have more memory. There probably isn’t a build in existence that would run on a retail PS5 at the moment.”
He added that a PC build would usually sit years behind, suggesting the clips are more likely early console footage.
GTA 6’s official Extended Look premieres on Netflix on August 27.
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Who is Obbe Vermeij?
Obbe Vermeij was technical director at Rockstar during the development of GTA 3, Vice City, San Andreas and GTA 4. He now comments publicly on Rockstar’s development history, and was the first former developer to respond in depth to this month’s GTA 6 leaks.
What was the Hot Coffee scandal?
Hot Coffee was a hidden sex mini-game found in the code of GTA San Andreas after its 2004 release. Modders discovered it, the game was re-rated in several markets, retailers pulled stock, and Rockstar faced legal action and a warning from the US Federal Trade Commission.
Will the leaked GTA 6 build run on a retail console?
Obbe Vermeij doubts it. He says development builds at Rockstar require a dev kit or access dongle, devkits have more memory than retail consoles, and there probably isn’t a build that would run on a retail PS5 at the moment.
