Onion00048 lists three protagonists, Rio, Havana and a story in two parts. The press stays sceptical, and what followed proves it right.
Photo: Rockstar Games
Sources gamingbible.com · dexerto.fr · dexerto.com
Two eras, three protagonists, Rio, Havana and a Chicago parody: on 23 March 2022, a Twitter account named Onion00048 put the most detailed list of settings yet on the table for GTA 6. It is detailed on 29 March by Dexerto France and GAMINGbible, both of which warn it does not come from Rockstar.
According to Dexerto France, the leaker says the information comes from several sources. The game would have three playable characters like GTA V, and a story in two periods: the first two chapters in 1985, chapters 3 to 5 in the present day. Main locations would be Vice City, Liberty City and Rio de Janeiro, plus Havana, with a Chicago parody limited to the prologue. Dexerto France also reports that development supposedly began in 2012 and that an announcement planned around 2020-2021 was delayed by team morale after Covid. The leaker promises an announcement before the end of the year.
GAMINGbible points out that a map with two eras would double the teams' workload: you cannot turn a 2020s city into 1985 by adding a few period cars. The outlet also recalls that Rockstar reportedly wants to limit crunch. One detail falls out along the way: the 2002 GTA Vice City was already set in 1986, which makes a return to the 80s plausible on paper, and no more reliable for it.
The same day, Dexerto relays a post by a Reddit user, GTA_VI_Leak, describing a bigger casino and a 100-player battle royale mode with a shrinking hurricane. The site writes that these claims cannot be verified, while noting the same account had predicted a Dr. Dre event before it was announced.
Rockstar showed something quite different: a single state, Leonida, in the present day, with Vice City, and two protagonists, Lucia and Jason. Neither the 80s, nor Liberty City, nor Rio or Havana have been announced, and we have seen no battle royale mode. The game is out on 19 November 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, preload on 12 November, PEGI 18, €79.99 standard and €99.99 Ultimate. The Goodtime State collector costs €399.99 without the game, GTA VI: The Album is out the same day, and no PC version has been announced. For the 80s, there is still the radio of Vice City.
This leak is a good example of a rumour too good to be true: everything is there, down to the chapter chronology, and almost none of it held up. For the reader the rule stays simple: the more detailed a story is and the more it comes from a single mouth, the more it needs checking before it is shared.
Sources gamingbible.com · dexerto.fr · dexerto.com
By Gabriel Janvier · VI Countdown newsroom, OKALAM Studio