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By insisting that it hasn’t been sacking developers for joining a union, Rockstar has inadvertently given clues as to which GTA 6 leaks are real.

It may be the most anticipated title in video game history but there has been precious little information, either official or unofficial, about Grand Theft Auto 6 ever since it was announced.

In the last few months, it’s mostly been in the news over allegations of union-busting at Rockstar Games, where the developer claim they sacked people for leaking secrets and not for trying to unionise.

The issue was serious enough that questions were asked in Parliament, but the very obvious flaw in Rockstar’s argument is that there have been no leaks of any note in the last year or so. Or at least that’s what everyone thought at first…

According to Rockstar, they fired over 30 employees in 2025 for leaking information on GTA 6 in an external channel, whose users included a games journalist and a developer from a rival company.

In a new statement to IGN, Rockstar insists that, ‘we took necessary action against a group of individuals across the UK and Canada who discussed highly confidential information, including relating to game features from upcoming and unannounced titles, in an insecure and public social channel.’

While there’s no way to verify any of Rockstar’s claims (whoever that games journalist is supposed to be, they haven’t spoken up) they also mention a number of other specific incidents, in an attempt to prove that sacking people for leaking information is something they’ve always done.

Rockstar claims that they sacked someone in the US in November 2023 for leaking information, as well as some in Lincoln in April 2025, and an employee in India in November 2025.

“Rockstar has pointed to its well-established zero tolerance approach to leaks, highlighting that it dismissed a Rockstar employee in Lincoln, UK in April 2025, who it alleged disclosed confidential information about GTA 6 to a third party who published the information to social…

— ben (@videotechuk_) January 8, 2026

Based on those specific dates, fans have gone back through internet chatter at the time and tried to work out what that information was – information which is now technically confirmed by Rockstar to be true, or at least true at the time that they fired the employee.

The 2023 firing seems to relate to a leak posted on Reddit, which was largely ignored at the time. You can find the details here but it’s very minor stuff about the story and gameplay mechanics and it’s no wonder little attention was paid to it.

The most substantial piece of new information is that there’s apparently a new mechanic somewhat similar to the dead eye targeting system from Red Dead Redemption 2.

Rockstar is perfectly within their rights to sack people for leaking information but, as ever, you have to question why anyone would risk their job over such trivial details. Especially as most of the leaked information wasn’t widely disseminated.

It’s less clear what the other rumours were but fans have connected one or more to leaks from a source called GameRoll, who revealed the surnames of the main characters before they were officially announced.

Again, you’ve got to wonder why someone felt it was so important to leak that information to the world, but they did reveal a number of other pieces of information.

We’ll leave it up to you as to whether you want to read them, as technically some are spoilers – although none of it is especially mind-blowing and some of it is as simple as ‘driving is best it’s ever been’.

However, the most interesting detail is another mention of a mechanic similar to the dead eye system, with both sources indicating that GTA 6 takes quite a bit of inspiration from Red Dead Redemption 2 in how it plays.

There is no guarantee that these are the leaks that the employees were sacked for but there have been so few over the years that the chances are good.

That said, not all leaks always get noticed. If a leaker doesn’t have much of a following their information can end up being completely ignored, even if it’s true.

The most famous example of this, is footage of a Prince Of Persia reboot, which was leaked onto YouTube in 2012 but which nobody noticed until 2020.

So perhaps there’s also GTA 6 leaks floating around that have been similarly ignored, or dismissed as fakes. Rockstar insists that the truth is out there, but sorting the facts from the fiction is not going to be easy.

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The Friday letters page laments the death of Guitar Hero and rhythm action games, as one reader claims Final Fantasy 8 is his favourite entry.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Perfect timing
It’s hard not to read the report on GTA 6’s progress and not be worried about another delay. My gut tells me they will hit the November release date, just because it’s a good time of the year and people are beginning to lose patience but just imagine what would happen if they released GTA 6 and it was a buggy mess or not that great.

Cyberpunk 2077 proves you can come back from anything, but the press will have a field day with GTA 6 if it doesn’t live up to expectations. And it took a long time for Cyberpunk to recover, during which there was talk of CD Projekt being sold off, so I’m going to guess that’s not the sort of reaction Rockstar and Take-Two want.

The idea that they’ve not yet started polishing does worry me though. It’s easy to assume from that, that either the game’s going to be delayed until 2027 or it will be buggy. The GTA 3 remasters show Rockstar can put out janky rubbish if they think they can get away with it, but I just hope that they have contingencies for all this and realise that not only does GTA 6 need to be perfect but it also has to actually come out at some point.
Zeiss

One or done
I really hope that Fable turns out to be good. It seems so long since the idea of a reboot was first talked about and we’ve seen so little of it in the meantime. Playground Games do good work with Forza Horizon, so I’m hopeful it’ll work, but those are two very different kinds of games.

I imagine that was part of the problem, in it taking so long, but if this doesn’t impress then that’s going to be the end of the franchise, and whatever team was making it (they’ll keep the Forza Horizon people).

It’s really terrible how so often nowadays the failure of a single game can mean the end of a whole franchise and hundreds of job losses. Here’s hoping that the Developer Direct goes well and isn’t a Suicide Squad style disaster.
Wotan

Turbo milking
Maybe I’m just slow but for me Guitar Hero was the point that I realised that the companies in charge of gaming really haven’t got a clue what they’re doing. Activision could’ve kept that franchise running forever – it was super popular when it came out and non-gamers loved it – but instead they ran it into the ground at warp speed and the whole thing was over in just a few years.

I doubt that this new game will do that well because nowadays plastic guitars are just associated with a weird fad that quickly became uncool, but that didn’t have to happen. If they’d taken their time and tried to innovate, they would be more than a one franchise company and music games might not have been killed off before their time.
Focus

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Seasonal gaming
I know it’s unusual, and there is the problem of whether you can get back the same voice actors, but I really like the idea of coming back to a game after a decade or so and giving it new DLC. A new sequel is a good excuse but I’m happy for it at any time, especially when it’s a game as good as The Witcher 3.

I’d love to see new expansions for Skyrim or anything from FromSoftware. Or definitely the story DLC that games like GTA 5 and God Of War never got. If companies are so keen on live service titles then they could create something like it just by constantly giving single-player games new content. I’d much rather that than watch them waste millions on another identikit online shooter.

I never liked the idea of episodic gaming but if they can make them more like TV seasons, where you get a new expansion every year or two, I think that would be a lot more appealing to most people. If the new Witcher 3 expansion is successful then maybe we’ll see it set a trend.
Brammo

Good publicity
I am fascinated to see what MachineGames will be allowed to get away with when it comes to Wolfenstein 3. Things are a lot different now than they used to be and for me the big question is are Bethesda going to sanitise the new game or are they going to push for it to be as anti-Nazi as possible, in order to get as much publicity as possible. We won’t know until there’s an annoucement, but it could go either way.

Speaking of MachineGames, I hope they get to make a Quake game too. It seems like they were training for that for years and I was really looking forward to a single-player game in their usual style, with optional multiplayer, just like the original game. A Rainbow Six Siega knock-off is absolutely not what I want to see from them next.
Limpton
PS: Also, where’s that second bit of Indiana Jones And The Great Circle DLC?

Power paradox
I also think there’s a reasonable (let’s say 50/50) chance of seeing a new mainline Zelda trailer this year. Something less than a minute long and not really showing much, just like they usually do. But show a new Link and a glimpse at a bit of new landscape and you’ll have fans talking for years (including me).

I do think it’s weird that the 40th anniversary is in barely more than a month, though, and there’s no new game. Come to that, Pokémon’s 30th anniversary is also next month, and they don’t seem to have announced anything for that either. Missing one anniversary is no big deal but Nintendo seem to be doing it more than not now, to the point where it just seems completely random when they do acknowledge one.

I think we have to accept that we are in a new era where Nintendo is suffering all the same problems as everyone else and they can’t put out new games as often as they used to. Things take too long now, for everyone, and presumable they’re more expensive for Nintendo too.

That’s not the end of the world, except I worry it’s going to make them more worried about experimenting. We’ve had not a hint of a new IP yet for the Switch 2 (no, Drag x Drive does not count) and I’m not sure who’d bet on when the next one will arrive.

I get that they have to pay the bills, like any other company, but I’m beginning to wish the Switch 2 hadn’t been that much more powerful after all.
Keef

Hateful eight
In all these years I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone talk about remastering Final Fantasy 8, which confuses me as I thought it was generally pretty well liked. Was that just me and the game is secretly hated or something?

I imagine the game’s not easy to remaster, because of the pre-rendered backdrops, but 9 had them as well and there’s been lots of rumours of that getting a glow-up. Admittedly that doesn’t seem to have happened yet, but I’d rather have had 8 anyway.

Am I the only person who thinks it’s their favourite Final Fantasy? I won’t say it’s the best, because it’s probably nostalgia talking, but it is the one I think of first when I think of older games.
Molb

Unknown presents
A little late to the party when it comes to what I got for Christmas, but I wanted to share my experience of opening gaming presents in front of family who don’t game at all.

My wonderful wife got me two gaming presents this year that I had asked for. On the day, when it was my turn to open a present, I first happily opened Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the title of which alone made many eyes glaze over. I briefly explained that it was 2025’s Game of the Year and allowed the present opening to continue.

My turn came again and I open NiGHTS Into Dreams for the Sega Saturn ‘with the special controller you need to get the most out of the game’. Cue the bemused smiles and lack of follow-up questions.

Needless to say, I’m very excited to play both of my gifts. However, when the other side of the family came on Boxing Day and asked what I’d got for Christmas, I showed them the lovely dressing gown and slipper combo I’d received instead.
Ed

GC: NiGHTS Into Dreams is definitely a nice present, it’s worth quite a bit now.

Inbox also-rans
I wish I could be optimistic about the new Life Is Strange game but the last one was such a disaster I’m not sure I’ll even bother trying it. One of the worst sequels I’ve ever played.
Gibson

I’m not going to argue over Mortal Kombat Mythologies being a terrible game but I will say that the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection was really good. I appreciate the amount of work they put into it and that even the bad games were included. Completeness matters!
Lang440bell

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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

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MORE: Games Inbox: What will be the next big Nintendo Switch 2 reveal?

MORE: Games Inbox: What’s the worst video game you ever bought?

MORE: Games Inbox: When is the first Nintendo Direct of 2026?

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Rockstar’s long-awaited sequel is still not content complete, with the developers of GTA 6 apparently unsure about whether it’ll be out this year or not.

After two major delays the obvious problem with GTA 6’s new release date, of November 19, is that there’s no guarantee it’ll keep that, anymore than it did the others.

Rockstar games do usually have at least two delays, so you’d hope they’ve filled their quota by now, but according to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier the game is not yet content complete. That means that Rockstar still hasn’t finalised everything that is due to go into the game, implying they also haven’t started the polishing phase of development.

A game the size and complexity of GTA 6 would need around a year of polishing, just as Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom did, and if it’s not started that process yet then that means another delay becomes a real possibility.

Schreier, who is widely considered the most reliable insider in gaming, was speaking as part of the Button Mash podcast on Spotify, when the discussion turned to GTA 6.

‘This is how Rockstar works,’ he said, in relation to Red Dead Redemption 2 and its multiple delays.

‘I wouldn’t be super shocked if that is what happens again. This time around, this is a big and complicated game and the last I heard it was still not content complete. That is to say that people were still finishing things up, still finalising levels and missions, and seeing what is going to make it into the game.’

For a game of GTA 6’s size, that does not sound like the sort of state you’d expect it to be in less than a year out from release.

As Schrier points out, every game is different, but generally content complete is a specific stage in development, that comes before final fixing and polishing, even though small additions and changes to the design can be made after that.

‘I don’t think anyone at Rockstar can tell you, with 100% certainty, that they will make it out in November,’ said Schrier.

According to him, the current November date does feel ‘a little more solid’ than the previous ones but he also points out that if the game were delayed until 2027, as long as it came out before the end of Take-Two’s financial year, on March 31, it wouldn’t cause any major financial problems.

This is one situation where no rumour can be 100% accurate, simply because Rockstar, and owners Take-Two, don’t know themselves whether the game is going to make it.

Given their previous conduct, they’re unlikely to give any hint either, until the last minute, although if it starts to get close to November and there’s still no sign of a new trailer or any other details then there’s every reason to worry.

From Rockstar’s point of view, it doesn’t matter when the game launches, as it will sell just as well at any time of year. According to Schrier, what’s more important to them is that the game lives up to expectations, although the longer it take to arrive the more unreasonable those expectations become…

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A new mystery has been discovered in Red Dead Redemption 2, that’s been in the game ever since it launched, and it might have connections to GTA 5.

Rockstar is known for creating highly detailed open worlds, and teasing fans with Easter eggs, but a new discovery in Red Dead Redemption 2 has sent players into a tizzy.

It’s been over seven years since Red Dead Redemption 2 came out, in 2018, and the western epic has continued to be popular ever since – mostly thanks to Red Dead Online mode and the breadth of its open world landscape.

While you’d think the game had long ago given up all its secrets, a newly discovered mystery involving spider webs and telegraph poles has sparked a feverish hunt within the game’s community.

This all began with a Reddit post from FL4VA-01 last month, who highlighted a spider web pattern on a telephone pole on the edge of Saint Denis. Weirdly, the pattern only appears at 3am in-game time and disappears at 4am.

Since then, and as encapsulated in a video by YouTuber Strange Man, players have discovered the same web on several other telegraph poles across the map. All these poles have a spider symbol on them and when placed over the game’s map, the end of each of the symbol’s legs correlates with where each webbed telegraph pole appears.

When you head to the centre of where this symbol sits on the map, players found another web on a tree with an ‘N’ written on it. This led players to head north where they found another pole which, when shot, has instructions to head five poles west.

After heading west, players found another pole with a ‘NW’ symbol and a guitar icon, which many took as a hint to head towards a guitar in Fort Wallace. However, players are now stuck trying to find the next clue – with some believing it relates to two bird symbols etched into a roof tile.

It’s thoroughly bonkers stuff, yet the evidence is pretty convincing. Players have verified this has been in the game from the start too, so it’s not something that’s been added recently, but whether it leads to anything of significance remains to be seen.

If you’re not convinced, there are actually spider webs in GTA 5 which similarly only appear at specific hours at two different locations, but they don’t appear to be connected to anything – or at least they haven’t sparked any treasure hunt comparable to this one in Red Dead Redemption 2.

For now, we’ll have to see if players can solve this mystery before the arrival of GTA 6, which is set to launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 19, 2026.

Red Dead Redemption 3 would presumably be their next game after that but if these clues have been in the game from the start they can’t be a hint about that.

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The issue of the dismissal of several dozen employees from Rockstar Games was raised at the latest session of the British Parliament.

More details: https://gameworldobserver.com/2025/12/11/the-uk-government-will-conduct-an-investigation-into-the-layoffs-at-rockstar-games

What you see is what you get?

It does look pretty.

error...error...

January 8, 2026 at 7:41am PT In a post on social media, Jason Schreier has clarified that he "wouldn't be shocked if GTA 6 *does* come out this fall." This article has been updated to reflect this. I don't know if my delicate little soul could take another GTA 6 delay. First, it was meant to be arriving in 2025. Then it was pushed to May 2026. Now, the GTA 6 release date is destined for November 19 this year. Barring some major fumbles and oversights on Rockstar's part, it will surely be one of the best open-world games ever made, and seeing it pushed even further into the future would be a hard pill to swallow - for me, it's less about a rampant desire for more Grand Theft Auto, and more about simply seeing whether the most anticipated videogame in history lives up to expectations. While November seems like an achievable goal, it still doesn't really feel guaranteed that GTA 6 will arrive then, and Bloomberg's Jason Schreier has sewn more seeds of doubt in my mind. Although he admits the current release date is way more "solid" and attainable than previous ones, he believes that GTA 6 is "still not content complete."

Read the full story on PCGamesN: GTA 6 reportedly still "not content complete," and Rockstar could delay it again as it strives for "perfection"

With GTA 6 currently scheduled for November and unlikely to see a PC release this year, we've had to turn back to the classics to scratch the Rockstar itch, and Red Dead Redemption 2 has delivered. In what's been dubbed the 'Spider Dream Mystery,' or simply the spiderweb easter egg, one off-hand discovery has sent the community spiraling down a bizarre rabbit hole that only continues to stretch out as the days roll on. Personally, I'll take any excuse to revisit one of the best open-world games ever made, but this particular thread has continued to surprise me as more clues seemingly appear, including one possible nod over in GTA 5 land.

Read the full story on PCGamesN: The mysterious new Red Dead Redemption 2 easter egg hole deepens, and I'm in awe at how far it seems to go

I've said it before and I'll say it again: L.A. Noire is, in my opinion, the greatest videogame ever made. Sure, it's janky by modern standards, and its open world is perhaps a little less open than a lot of people expect from a Rockstar-backed game. But, for me, its story, soundtrack, and then-ground-breaking visual performances bring it to vibrant life. All these years later, nothing quite has the same aura as Team Bondi's rusty detective game (pun entirely intended).

Read the full story on PCGamesN: Gears of War veteran would take LA Noire 2 "over any other game in the world," and he's already thought of a plotline

Red Dead Redemption’s Nintendo Switch port, released on August 17, 2023, included the 2010 game and its Undead Nightmare zombie expansion. It was a solid port developed by Double Eleven, running at 30fps with 720p docked and 540p handheld resolutions, featuring minor pop-in but sharp textures and smooth horseback riding. For a portable console, it […]

Source

A preliminary employment tribunal hearing has seen the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) request that a judge grant interim relief to the 31 UK-based GTA 6 developers fired by Rockstar, reportedly following discussion of changes to Rockstar's company Slack policies by staff on Discord. The union, which filed legal claims against the company over the dismissals last year, continue to assert that they were a form of union busting. Rockstar, meanwhile, have released a fresh statement claiming that the root of this is simply stopping info about GTA 6 from leaking.

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“Weird spiderwebs appearing at odd hours of the night in Rockstar’s open world game Red Dead Redemption 2?” you chortle. “That sounds like the testimony of crazy old Edwin Evans-Thirlwell, the guy who writes about new Molyneux projects like a pauper child returning from market with a handful of magic beans”. Mates, I promise I haven’t fallen victim to a scam of some kind. There are weird spiderwebs in RDR2. I read about it on the internet!

The spiderwebs appear to be part of a huge Easter egg puzzle the community (aka Youtubers, Xitter users and redditors) are now attempting to solve – an Easter egg that has allegedly lain uncracked since the game’s initial release in 2018. Spoilers to follow, of course.

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Ah, hello, Prince Arthur. This is King Dutch. Long time no see. We thought today would be a good day for rolling. The katamari. The gunslinger suffering from tuberculosis. Where the first rolls the second follows. Roll, roll, roll.

That, essentially, is the ethos behind a Red Dead Redemption 2 mod which streamer Blurbs created late last year, and has since shown off in a video that's heavy on large masses of horses and pardners being rolled into rootin' tootin' chaos balls.

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