Ex-Rockstar Dev Dismisses GTA 6 Leaks as 'Nothing Burger,' Says Hot Coffee Was Far Worse

While Take-Two scrambles to identify the culprit behind the GTA 6 'CyberLeek' leaks, a former Rockstar developer has downplayed the impact of the recent gameplay footage, insisting it won't affect the game's success.

CyberLeek has dropped 10 GTA 6 gameplay videos and a full map image in just six days, triggering a hunt for those responsible. Take-Two has subpoenaed Microsoft, Discord, and even X/Twitter, but the leaker remains unfazed, even running a crypto-fueled poll to decide which video to release next. This comes just a week before Netflix's timed-exclusive reveal of GTA 6, which will mark the game's official unveiling.

From a corporate perspective, the leaks are causing significant damage. Bloomberg reports that Rockstar still doesn't know how the leaks happened or who's behind them. While there are no plans to delay the Netflix reveal, there's internal frustration and anger, with management sending morale-boosting emails to staff.

However, former Rockstar technical director Obbe Vermeij, who worked at Rockstar North from 1995 to 2009, took to social media to downplay the leaks, comparing them to the infamous Hot Coffee scandal.

"Calm down everybody. The leaks are a nothing burger," Vermeij began. "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, slightly ahead of the Netflix thing next week. 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."

He added, "I imagine the teams are a little annoyed about it but not more than that. I was there during Hot Coffee. It was a nightmare for management (RNewYork) but didn't affect us (RNorth) 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."

The Hot Coffee scandal was a 2005 controversy involving a hidden, sexually explicit mini-game in GTA: San Andreas. Modders discovered unfinished code on game discs that allowed players to unlock a crude sex scene, sparking political outrage, a temporary 'Adults Only' rating, and multimillion-dollar settlements for Rockstar.

"No, it really hurt," Vermeij said of Hot Coffee. "The game had to be withdrawn from stores in the USA. It could only be sold as 18+ until the new version was ready. It is estimated to have cost $50 million, which was a lot of money for R*/T2 at the time."

Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser echoed this in an October interview with Lex Fridman, saying the company "nearly imploded several times due to Hot Coffee," calling it "extremely tough."

There's growing concern that CyberLeek might spoil GTA 6's story by releasing plot-critical cutscenes. That hasn't happened yet, but Vermeij downplayed even that scenario: "That would suck but people will still play it."

Speculation also suggests CyberLeek has a working build of GTA 6, based on some gameplay shown in the leaks. Vermeij dismissed this, saying, "If that is the case, it probably only runs on a devkit. Devkits have more memory. There probably isn't a build in existence that would run on a retail PS5 at the moment."

GTA 6 is expected to be the biggest entertainment launch ever, breaking sales and revenue records. As Vermeij noted, the leaks are unlikely to threaten the November launch's success. However, they represent a significant security breach for Take-Two and Rockstar, likely affecting staff morale after years of development. They also potentially dampen the impact of the Netflix reveal, which probably isn't thrilled about the situation.

Neither Take-Two nor Rockstar has issued an official statement on the leaks. IGN has reached out for comment.