GTA 6 players brace for gameplay leaks as AI fakes flood our timelines

Even though Rockstar Games hasn't quite given us Duke Nukem Forever levels of waiting, it will have been a whopping 13 years between the release of GTA V and GTA VI. We're partially to blame for that, because shelling out on Shark Cards and continuing to play GTA Online means the 2013 game has made over $10 billion in lifetime revenue.

Still, patience is a virtue as GTA VI is nearly here.

Poised to be the biggest game of all time, GTA VI has still managed to break pre-order records despite the fact that it won't come with an actual disc, AND we haven't seen any official gameplay yet.

That's all tipped to change as a special August 27 showcase with Netflix will give us a peek at how things will look when we return to Vice City on November 19.

With the hype train roaring into town, we're once again reminded not to trust everything we see online.

GTA VI leaks are back with a vengeance

GTA VI leaks are nothing new, and let's remember that it was 2018's Project Americas leak that first teased a female protagonist and revamped Vice City. From work-in-progress footage leaks back in 2022 to early trailer drops and a massive Lapsus$ hack, the GTA VI community has largely been kept alive by leaks as publisher Take-Two Interactive drip-feeds us information.

Even when it comes to the Netflix reveal, leakers claim it'll be split into three episodes that will put a different aspect in the spotlight.

Assuming that we're about to get a tonne of new footage, leaks surrounding a potential gameplay reveal are ramping up.

The problem is, our social media timelines are full of some pretty convincing AI fakes. Over on X, one person shared footage of a helicopter flying over Vice City, with this 'gameplay' clip being all over numerous accounts.

Even though we know Elon Musk's Grok isn't the most reliable narrator, the OP asked the AI chatbot whether this is the real deal and got the following answer: "Not legit. AI-generated or fabricated footage. Parody accounts (bio confirms, like GTAVINewsnew1) post near-identical 'Netflix leak' clips daily from different spots. Official Extended Look premieres on Netflix August 27. No real GTA 6 gameplay has leaked."

Others' accounts mocked the epic burn and said that it's obvious the footage is fake.

Elsewhere on X, @TheGamingTsar threw cold water on everything as they shared leaked gameplay footage from years ago and simply said: "The only gameplay we have of GTA 6 is the 2022 leak with 2019 footage lol."

READ MORE: The 11 best features GTA 6 should borrow from Red Dead Redemption 2

What do we know about Netflix's GTA VI reveal?

We'll admit that it's becoming harder than ever to tell what's real and what's been created by water-guzzling AI, but we'll have to wait just a little longer until the Netflix reveal. Landing on Thursday, 27 August 2026, at 3:00 p.m. ET (8:00 p.m. BST), Netflix subscribers will have an exclusive six-hour window before footage is uploaded to Rockstar's official channels.

Still, we imagine it'll quickly be shared by others online.

Both Rockstar and Take-Two are said to be treating this partnership as a major entertainment premiere, further leaning into the idea that GTA VI will be far more than just your typical video game.

Although the format is yet to be confirmed, a temporary listing on Netflix Portugal briefly teased that the 'Extended Look' will be formatted as a three-episode cinematic or gameplay series, with over an hour of deep-dive material.

Expect gameplay to be the big talking point here, and if GTA VI can get anywhere near the graphics that its cinematic trailers have teased, we could be in for a real treat as Rockstar aims to prove it's been worth the wait.