“When something leaks, it just becomes f***ing noise”, “Don’t be a leaker”
Though one sour note hung over what should have been a more joyous occasion, the next Grand Theft Auto game. We got the GTA 6 trailer before Rockstar planned to show it, so we got it first.
Having something you worked on leaked to the public before the reveal resonates with the games industry as a whole because everyone goes through it. It can be a news scope, or it can be one person posting a rough cut of something online for their five seconds of fame. Regardless, many developers agree that it’s a bummer.
“The thing I hate most about leaks is that it takes the voice away from the developer” Larian Studios director of publishing Michael Douse says https://twitter.com/Cromwelp/status/1731896382745694264?s=20. “What we should all be looking for is dialogue between devs and communities. But when something leaks, it just becomes fucking noise. It isn’t what you want.”
Josh Stein, Xbox’s senior social media manager, adds, “While the cat and mouse game of leak/not leaked is fun to follow on social. Let me tell you it sucks from the inside.”
“Teams work literally hours, days, weeks, nights, to build the best rollout to capture the attention of social media and go loud and proud for the community. Leaks utterly ruin that and waste a ton of work and also risk flat-spinning your whole marketing message.”
“There’s going to be a lot of people missing time with family, friends, loved ones tonight [because] they have to work late hours to accommodate for a leak. As someone who went through it myself, it sucks the fun outta marketing and I wish it never happened.”
That’s very much the gist of the conversation right now, with many lamenting the fact that the event-like atmosphere likely to accompany a GTA 6 trailer reveal has been somewhat spoiled. “Don’t be a leaker,” says Halo senior community manager John Junyszek.
It’s something that Rockstar developers have addressed. One developer says in a now-deleted Tweet that they “hoping to watch this for the first time tomorrow along with my fellow teammates and coworkers,” before adding, “I feel we deserved that moment.” Another, more lighthearted approach, finished things off with a popular community meme.
We’ve got plenty of tidbits to keep us going now that the trailer is out. The GTA 6 trailer reveals that the highly anticipated game will be released in 2025 and will be available on Xbox Series X and PS5 at launch. Not ideal for PC gamers, but if history is any guide, it will eventually come to PC.