If you've been anywhere near gaming Twitter (or X, whatever we're calling it now) over the past couple of days, you've probably seen your feed light up with chatter. With Rockstar's officially scheduled "Extended Look" on Netflix just over a week away (August 27, mark your calendars), fans have already been piecing together all sorts of scattered online rumors and discussions about what GTA 6 might bring to the table.
Things have only gotten crazier since then. More GTA 6 gameplay footage reportedly leaked overnight on August 19, giving fans an even longer look at Jason, vehicle theft, police encounters, inventory systems and other mechanics that weren't as clear in the first batch of clips.
Now, before we get too carried away, let's keep expectations in check—none of these gameplay mechanics have been officially confirmed by Rockstar, and development footage can change significantly before launch. This article is based on leaked footage, online discussion and personal speculation. Please wait for official announcements for confirmed details.
Shooting Hoops Like It's San Andreas All Over Again
One of the hot topics making the rounds centers on Jason, one of the game's two protagonists, hanging out at what looks like his waterfront safehouse – and what's he doing? Shooting some hoops. That's right, playable basketball might be making a comeback in a way we haven't seen since San Andreas.
According to the footage, the shooting mechanic appears to involve a timing-based system where you press a button as two rings overlap. Sinking a shot also appears to reward Jason with a "+2% Focus" boost. If the mechanic survives into the final game, it could point toward more RPG-style character progression than we've seen in GTA V.
Fill 'Er Up
Now, this is one that's got everyone talking. Another piece of footage suggests that when Jason gets back in his car, a fuel gauge appears on the HUD. Yep – it looks like we might actually have to refuel our vehicles in GTA 6.
The footage also appears to show additional vehicle status information, and later leaked clips once again display fuel indicators on cars and police vehicles. That doesn't necessarily mean GTA 6 is becoming a full vehicle simulator, but it does suggest Rockstar is experimenting with a more detailed vehicle system than GTA V.
Movement That Feels Familiar
A lot of fans who've combed through the footage are pointing out that Jason's movement – the way he walks, runs, and especially the way he jumps over a balcony – feels much closer to Red Dead Redemption 2 than GTA V. It's heavier, more deliberate and less floaty.
And it's not just movement. The melee combat shown in the footage includes a stamina meter, while several interactions look noticeably more physical than GTA V. A devil-like icon also appears after violent actions, leading to speculation about some kind of morality or reputation mechanic.
Later clips have only added fuel to that discussion, showing more contextual NPC interactions, police search behavior and combat options. Exactly how deep these systems go remains unknown.
Update: Even More GTA 6 Gameplay Leaked Overnight
Just when it looked like the GTA 6 leak couldn't get much bigger, more footage surfaced on August 19, including considerably longer gameplay sequences than the first basketball and driving clips.
One of the most discussed videos reportedly shows Jason moving through an industrial area at night, driving, fighting NPCs, interacting with police, using a Taser and stealing vehicles. Another clip shows a separate combat encounter that gives us a much clearer look at GTA 6's weapon and item systems.
It's worth stressing again that these are still development builds. Rockstar has not officially announced these individual mechanics, and some of the UI, animations and gameplay systems shown here could be changed or removed before release.
Car Theft Might Be More Complicated Than Breaking a Window
One of the most interesting details appears when Jason approaches a locked vehicle.
Instead of simply breaking the window and driving away, the leaked UI reportedly gives Jason two different prompts: "Clone Key" and "Smash Window."
Exactly how "Clone Key" works isn't clear yet. The most obvious interpretation is that GTA 6 may offer both a quieter method of gaining access to a vehicle and the classic quick-and-loud approach of smashing the glass.
That would fit with the wider direction suggested by the leaks: ordinary crimes may now involve more choices rather than a single canned animation.
Tasers, Surrendering and Smarter Police Encounters
The latest footage also gives us a much better look at combat and law enforcement.
Jason is reportedly shown using a Taser, while prompts including "Tag" and "Surrender" appear during police encounters. What the Tag system actually does is still unclear, so it's best not to read too much into it yet.
More interesting is the way the wanted system appears to react to witnesses and identifiable evidence. In one of the newer clips, Jason can apparently lose police attention before becoming wanted again after being spotted using a stolen police vehicle.
Weapons and police vehicles also appear with identification or tracking-style icons. If those indicators work the way fans suspect, police may be able to connect certain vehicles, weapons or descriptions to a crime instead of magically knowing the player's exact location at all times.
GTA 6 Seems to Have a Much Deeper Inventory System
Another August 19 clip shows what appears to be a dedicated Item Wheel separate from the Weapon Wheel.
The footage reportedly includes eight weapon slots as well as healing items such as an EpiPen and a drug called Zombix. A tutorial message says that repeatedly using Zombix temporarily reduces its effectiveness, suggesting healing may involve more restrictions than simply spamming snacks from a menu.
Several melee weapons can also be seen, including a hunting knife, knife and switchblade. Jason appears able to pick items up from the environment and NPCs, while the familiar Greet and Taunt interaction style from Red Dead Redemption 2 also makes an appearance.
These details make the game look much more systemic than GTA V. At least in the leaked build, Rockstar seems to be giving players more ways to interact with NPCs, weapons, consumables and evidence in the world.
That Jason and Cal VPN Scene Was Almost Too Perfect
One of the strangest moments comes at the end of the nighttime footage, when the video transitions into a short scene involving Jason and Cal Hampton on a boat.
Cal talks about staying hidden and mentions using a VPN so he can't be tracked down. Considering that the scene itself appeared at the end of a huge unauthorized GTA 6 leak, fans immediately noticed the irony.
The bigger takeaway, though, is that the leaker appears to have access to more than isolated gameplay tests. The presence of story footage has naturally led to speculation that there could be considerably more material available.
For now, however, there's no reliable evidence that the leaker has the complete GTA 6 build or Rockstar's full source code.
How Recent Is This Leaked GTA 6 Build?
There has been a lot of confusion over exactly how old the leaked footage is.
Some early discussion claimed the videos were from 2023, but the newest nighttime footage complicates that theory. Fans noticed Tate McRae's "Sports Car" playing on the radio, a song that was publicly released in January 2025.
That suggests at least some of the leaked material could come from a considerably newer build than originally assumed.
There is an important caveat, though. Rockstar could theoretically have received music before its public release, and without verified internal build information we can't use one radio track to definitively date the footage.
What we can say is that the old blanket claim that all of the footage is definitely from 2023 is no longer something we should treat as established fact.
The footage itself also clearly contains unfinished elements, including temporary-looking UI, animation issues and other work-in-progress details. Whatever we're seeing is still not necessarily representative of the game Rockstar will ship in November.
IS GTA 6 Delayed Again?
With another huge leak spreading online – and GTA 6 already having gone through major schedule changes – one question is popping up everywhere again: has GTA 6 been delayed to 2027?
For now, no.
As of August 20, 2026, Rockstar still lists November 19, 2026 as the official GTA 6 release date for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Take-Two also reiterated the November 19 launch in its latest fiscal first-quarter results on August 7, with CEO Strauss Zelnick specifically referring to the upcoming GTA 6 launch on that date.
Rockstar's upcoming GTA VI: An Extended Look is also still scheduled for August 27. Nothing in Rockstar's latest official announcements suggests that the presentation or the November release date has changed because of the Cyberleek incident.
So where are the new delay rumors coming from? Mostly from the appearance of the leaked development footage itself. Some players have looked at unfinished UI or rough animations and assumed the game must need another delay.
But development footage isn't a reliable way to predict a release-date change. We don't know exactly when every clip was recorded, what development branch it came from, or how much has changed since then.
Until Rockstar or Take-Two announces otherwise, November 19, 2026 remains the official GTA 6 release date.
Conclusion
The first batch of GTA 6 footage already gave us plenty to talk about, from basketball and character progression to fuel management and RDR2-style movement. The August 19 leaks have taken things much further.
Multiple approaches to stealing cars, Tasers, surrender prompts, a separate Item Wheel, Zombix healing items, deeper NPC interactions and more reactive police behavior all suggest Rockstar is experimenting with considerably more systemic gameplay than we saw in GTA V.
But don't treat this as a final feature checklist just yet. We're still looking at unauthorized development footage, and Rockstar has not officially confirmed that every mechanic shown will make it into the finished game.
Fortunately, we won't have to rely entirely on leaked clips for much longer. GTA VI: An Extended Look arrives on August 27, when Rockstar is expected to give us a much clearer look at the game itself.
And despite the latest wave of leak-related speculation, GTA 6 is still officially scheduled to launch on November 19, 2026.
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Eva Experienced Game Editor
I'm a video game guide editor. I love all kinds of video games, especially turn-based games. Right now, I'm playing a lot of Honkai: Star Rail, and I really enjoy planning strategies for each battle. I'm also passionate about open-world games like Genshin Impact, where exploring every corner of the map and discovering new stories is a wonderful experience. Plus, I'm a big fan of simulation and collection games, like Stardew Valley: farming, raising animals, and decorating my farm is very relaxing for me. As a guide editor, my goal is to help other players enjoy the game more by sharing useful tips and uncovering hidden secrets.
