GTA 6 Timeline
Four years of Grand Theft Auto VI, with the leaks and the official announcements on the same line. Reading them together is the point: the pattern that emerges is that almost every leak has been followed by Rockstar acting, and the timing of those reactions is usually the best evidence anyone gets about whether the leak was real. Sixteen dated events run from the Bloomberg report in July 2022 to the CyberLeek clips in August 2026.
Before there was a game to announce
Rockstar confirmed in February 2022 only that development on the next Grand Theft Auto was under way. Everything specific that anyone knew for the next twenty-two months came from outside the company. Bloomberg described the cast and the setting in July 2022; a hacker published pre-alpha footage of both in September. By the time Trailer 1 arrived in December 2023, the two central facts about the game — Vice City and two leads, one of them a woman — had been public for eighteen months and had never been denied.
- Leak
Bloomberg describes the game two and a half years early
A report by Jason Schreier laid out a playable Latina lead, a two-protagonist story modelled on Bonnie and Clyde, and a map pulled back to a fictional Miami. Every load-bearing claim held.
- Leak
90 files posted to GTAForums
An account called teapotuberhacker published more than ninety videos of pre-alpha development footage. It is still the largest leak the medium has had.
- Official
Rockstar confirms the breach; Take-Two files with the SEC
Rockstar said it did not expect disruption to live services or upcoming titles, and promised to introduce players to the game when it was ready.
- Leak
A TikTok pans around the Stockyard
A phone pointed at a monitor showed a full circle of the Stockyard neighbourhood. Two of the buildings in frame appeared in Trailer 1 two days later.
- Leak
Trailer 1 leaks sixteen hours early
A lower-quality copy carrying a “BUY $BTC” watermark spread through the morning. Rockstar moved the premiere forward to 6:00 PM EST the same day.
- Official
Trailer 1 premieres
Set to “Love Is a Long Road” by Tom Petty. It became the most-viewed video game reveal on YouTube in twenty-four hours.
- Official
Sentencing in the 2022 hack
Arion Kurtaj was placed under an indefinite hospital order; a second Lapsus$ member received a youth rehabilitation order at Guildford Crown Court.
- Leak
A photo from inside Rockstar San Diego
EXIF data placed the shot at 2220 Faraday Avenue, Carlsbad, in June 2021, next to a PlayStation 5 development kit.
- Official
First delay: Fall 2025 becomes 26 May 2026
Rockstar apologised and said the extra time was needed to exceed expectations.
- Official
Trailer 2 arrives without warning
It named Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, introduced the supporting cast, and drew a reported 475 million views across platforms in its first day.
- Leak
Eight domains found on Take-Two’s nameservers
All registered on 27 May 2025, all reading like in-game websites. Every one had been moved off within a day of the post.
- Official
Second delay: 19 November 2026
Rockstar apologised again and said the extra months would let it finish the game with the expected level of polish.
- Leak
An animator’s showreel surfaces
Twenty seconds of LomBike animation tests, cut to the Trailer 1 song, pulled from Vimeo the same day.
- Official
Pre-orders, prices and the Vintage Vice City Pack
Rockstar confirmed a Standard and an Ultimate Edition, a pre-load date of 12 November, and that the game is a single-player experience.
- Official
An Extended Look is dated
Netflix on 27 August at 3 p.m. ET, then YouTube and the official site at 9 p.m. ET.
- Leak
CyberLeek posts gameplay and a map
Two clips, then a third, plus an image claiming to be the whole of Leonida. Rockstar and Take-Two began filing takedowns within hours.
The pattern in the dates
Three of the eight leaks were answered inside twenty-four hours. Take-Two filed takedowns on 18 September 2022 and disclosed the breach to the SEC the next day. Rockstar pulled the Trailer 1 premiere forward on the same morning the watermarked copy spread. Every domain on the September 2025 list had left Take-Two’s nameservers within a day of being named in public. That speed is why the community treats corporate reaction as better evidence than visual analysis: a company with a legal department does not spend it on fakes.
The two leaks nobody answered are the two that came from individuals rather than intrusions — the Stockyard TikTok and the office photograph. Both were deleted by their posters within hours, and neither drew a public word from Rockstar. That silence is not a denial, and the archive does not treat it as one.
Two delays, thirteen months
Grand Theft Auto VI was on course for Fall 2025 until 2 May 2025, when Rockstar moved it to 26 May 2026. On 6 November 2025 it moved again, to 19 November 2026 — a Thursday, and thirteen months later than the original window. Both announcements were short, signed by the studio rather than an executive, and apologetic in the same register. Neither mentioned any of the leaks.
The second delay matters to this archive for a practical reason: it means the leaked August 2026 footage, which outlets place at roughly 2023 to 2024, is describing a build from before both delays. Every system in those clips has had at least two additional years of development applied to it.
What is still ahead
An Extended Look premieres on Netflix on 27 August 2026 at 3 p.m. ET and reaches YouTube and the official site at 9 p.m. the same day. Pre-loading opens on 12 November, the same day physical copies reach shelves with a download code in the box. The game launches on 19 November on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, and the Vintage Vice City Pack stops being included with purchases on 20 November. No PC version has been dated.