Rockstar Games has addressed the initial Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks from 2022, calling it an "invasive" moment that resulted in a huge policy shift at the studio.

In a lengthy interview with Bloomberg, where Rockstar leadership discussed GTA 6's long development period, co-head of development Aaron Garbut touched on the huge leaks from 2022 that changed how the studio works today.

In September of that year, someone hacked the company's Slack channel and leaked dozens of raw, unfinished gameplay footage before Rockstar was ready to unveil anything. Rockstar released a statement about the leaks, and despite copyright takedowns, the footage quickly spread like wildfire, and though law enforcement later tracked the alleged hacker down, it was too late.

"It feels like somebody’s wading through your dirty washing," Garbut said. "It’s like they’re inside your head. You see your early work out there. Nobody’s ever supposed to see that. It’s really weirdly invasive. And so it’s quite hard to deal with on an emotional level."

As a result, Rockstar introduced a controversial policy in 2024 requiring every developer to work in-office five days a week for security reasons; developers were also banned from accessing Rockstar’s servers and tools outside the office, which forced them to take vacation days if they needed to stay home for childcare or emergencies.

" With GTA 6 , Rockstar knew it couldn't repeat those mistakes; however, the new policy following the leaks meant no more hybrid working.

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