GTA 6 Development Footage Surfaces in Former Rockstar Animator Demo Reel Before Swift Removal

Fans got their hands on something real this time.

Over the weekend, roughly 19 seconds of authentic GTA 6 development footage slipped through Rockstar's typically airtight security net. The clips come from Benjamin Chue, a veteran animator who spent over 20 years working on titles like Red Dead Redemption 2, Max Payne 3, and multiple Grand Theft Auto games. His demo reel surfaced on Vimeo before disappearing faster than a stolen car in Los Santos.

The footage shows early motion capture work. Nothing flashy. A male character interacts with a bike-sharing station branded "LOM Bikes" (likely poking fun at real-world LimeBike services). He unhooks the bicycle, mounts it, then reverses the process. Simple stuff. But here's the thing: these animations demonstrate the ridiculous level of detail Rockstar pours into making Vice City feel alive.

A second clip features what appears to be protagonist Lucia hopping off the bed of a pickup truck. The animation looks smooth, natural. Players might get to ride in truck beds this time around, opening up new gameplay possibilities for multiplayer chaos or story missions.

Why This Leak Matters

Unlike the AI-generated garbage that's been fooling people lately, this leak carries weight. Chue's credentials check out across multiple industry databases, with verified credits on seven Rockstar titles. The rest of his demo reel featured confirmed work from Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA 5, lending serious credibility to the GTA 6 clips.

Reddit users who spotted the footage first noted timestamps and labels explicitly marking the clips as GTA 6 work. The animation style matches what leaked during the massive September 2022 breach, when 90+ videos of in-development footage hit the internet.

Rockstar has clamped down hard since that disaster. They mandated full-time office returns. They fired over 30 employees for allegedly leaking information. The company pursues leakers with the same intensity they put into their games.

Bike Rentals and World-Building Details

The "LOM Bikes" branding fits perfectly with GTA's satirical approach to world-building. Vice City appears to be getting the full Miami treatment, complete with bike-sharing infrastructure mimicking real Florida services. Official screenshots released earlier this year already hinted at rental bike stations scattered throughout the map.

These aren't groundbreaking features. GTA 5 had bike rentals. But the animation quality suggests Rockstar is pushing their RAGE engine even further. The character doesn't just magically spawn a bike. He carefully walks it backward from the rack, unhooks it, turns it around. Small touches like this make virtual worlds feel inhabited rather than artificial.

Timing and Context

This leak arrives during a brutal content drought. Rockstar dropped Trailer 2 earlier this year but has gone radio silent since. No Trailer 3 announcement. No gameplay reveals. Just deafening silence while fans dissect every frame of existing footage.

The game got delayed twice already. First from Fall 2025 to May 2026. Then from May to November 19, 2026. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick claims they're "highly confident" in the new date, but patience is wearing thin.

Meanwhile, fake leaks run rampant. AI-generated "gameplay footage" racks up millions of views before getting debunked. People are desperate for anything real, which makes legitimate leaks like Chue's demo reel even more valuable to the community.

What Happens Next

The Vimeo upload disappeared quickly. Whether Rockstar's legal team forced its removal or Chue took it down himself remains unclear. Given the company's history of aggressive copyright enforcement, expect the footage to get scrubbed from most major platforms soon.

Chue put his career on the line here, intentionally or not. Former Rockstar employees sign strict NDAs. Sharing work-in-progress footage from unreleased projects violates those agreements. Some fans speculate Chue got permission to showcase the work, but the swift removal suggests otherwise.

Tom Henderson from Insider Gaming recently claimed GTA 6 reached content completion months ago. The development team is now focused entirely on polish and stability. Rockstar wants to avoid another Cyberpunk 2077 situation at all costs. According to Henderson, "if there's a single glitch that Rockstar thinks needs fixing, the game won't ship."

That perfectionist approach explains the delays. And honestly? Most fans would rather wait for a polished masterpiece than suffer through a broken launch. The hype train keeps rolling despite the setbacks.

GTA 6 releases November 19, 2026. Probably.