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Technology
Dustin Bailey

GTA 6 map leak is "100% real," say fans who've spent years painstakingly mapping Rockstar's open-world game by hand

Lucia leaves prison in GTA 6 trailer 2.

For years, a group of GTA 6 fans has been painstakingly analyzing every screenshot, every teaser, and every frame of every trailer in an effort to piece together the map for Rockstar's open-world game. What do they think of the map that appeared alongside this week's GTA 6 leaks? Apparently, its contents check out with what they've spent years building.

"After comparing their work with the newly leaked #GTAVI map, they believe it checks out," according to a tweet from iGrandTheftAuto.com, a fansite whose members include folks involved with the GTA 6 mapping community. "While some smaller details appear to be missing, the overall map leak seems to be genuine."

The leaked map appears to be made up of a series of screenshots taken from the in-game map screen, stitched together in order to show the whole open world.

The broad strokes are very similar to the fan-made GTA 6 map, which you can browse in detail on the community website. The community map lacks detail through much of the wilderness, while the leaked map doesn't show smaller roads and other more intricate details.

"The map leak is 100% real," according to martipk, a member of the GTA 6 mapping community whose comments on Discord have been shared more widely on Twitter. "It's just a low render version that doesn't show buildings, small roads, bridges or runners. Everything is correct on the map. There are details everywhere so precise that aren't even on the community map but can still be confirmed from what we know. There is literally no way someone fabricated this."

A bit of skepticism remains among some fans over whether these GTA 6 leaks are even real, but personally, I think the doubt ship has long since sailed away. The video clips are far too specific and detailed to be AI-generated, and even the people behind the mapping project are convinced of the leaked map's veracity.

Plus, the DMCA notices against accounts sharing the leaked materials probably wouldn't be so aggressive if these were fakes. I suspect Rockstar's going to find the next couple of months leading into GTA 6's launch downright excruciating.

GTA 6 leaks go from bad to worse for Rockstar as new footage suggests leaker has access to a playable build.

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