Fans Weigh In on GTA 6’s Graphics After Alleged Year-Old Leak Emerges

Approximately two minutes of gameplay footage and the entire map for Grand Theft Auto 6 have reportedly been leaked. The key questions now are the origins of this footage and its age. These details will help determine if the clips fans are analyzing are rough drafts or closer to the final product. As discussions unfold about the quality of the leaks, there’s a growing belief that the footage is at least a year old.

Notable leak podcaster NateTheHate shared insights suggesting that the GTA 6 footage is over a year old, and metadata from the files hints that the clips could be even older. A conversation on a gaming forum revealed that the videos were encoded with a 2023 version of FFmpeg. However, as admin Spider-Vice noted, this doesn’t necessarily indicate that the videos were created in 2023; they might have been produced later using an older version. The footage could also have been from an earlier build that was only encoded recently.

There are indicators that the footage is likely outdated, such as speculation that some fonts and UI elements appear to be placeholder assets. This might ease the concerns of fans who found the leaked gameplay underwhelming. One user expressed skepticism on social media, stating, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to leak GTA 6. Anyway, is this looking good? Kinda looks mid though.” Another user remarked, “They overhyped this by being so silent, so we expected more, and then the leaks showed us how mid it is.”

Disappointment in some online circles can be attributed to the quality of the footage, which was already subpar and is deteriorating further as it gets recaptured and shared across various platforms, especially with DMCA takedowns being issued. Some quality issues may also stem from the media players being used to view the footage. A modder pointed out that the leaked clips are in HDR, and many users might not have their media players configured to handle the tonemapping correctly, resulting in washed-out screenshots.

While these leaks may not provide a clear picture of the visual fidelity and polish expected in this highly anticipated game, they do seem to confirm some gameplay details, such as the introduction of a sixth star in the Wanted system and gas meters for vehicles.