What the leaked GTA 6 videos show: six wanted stars and fuel

31 August 2026 · Updated: 31 August 2026 · 7 min read

GameMapa editorial · how we check facts
Checked: Claude (AI) — fact-checked against the Ukrainian original; not proofread by a native speaker

The date may change — we follow official announcements and update this page.

We are changing our approach. Until now we covered the GTA 6 leaks as an event but deliberately did not retell what was in them. From here on we will: the material has already been picked apart by dozens of outlets, and the reader will find it either way — the only question is whether they find an honest caveat alongside it.

What does not change: we do not host, embed or link the leaked videos, files or mirrors, and we do not copy anyone’s text or screenshots. Below is a retelling of what Kotaku, Insider Gaming and TweakTown described, credited at the end.

And the caveat to keep in mind to the last line: Rockstar has confirmed none of this. This is footage from an unreleased build of unknown age. Any of these mechanics may change or disappear before 19 November 2026.

The wanted system: six stars instead of five

The loudest detail. In the scene where Jason finishes off a truck driver he picks up a two-star wanted level — and next to the two lit stars there are four more faded outlines. Six in total.

That matters because GTA V capped at five stars. Six was a feature of older entries in the series, and going by the leaks the sixth star is back. Kotaku openly asks whether that means the military can be called in at the top level — and honestly answers that the footage does not show it.

What the police know: three descriptors

A second row of icons has appeared under the stars, something GTA V never had. It is not the wanted level itself but the descriptors: what the police have managed to learn about you.

Sources disagree here, and we are not going to pretend otherwise:

All three descriptions share one thing: the wanted system is no longer a single bar. The logic commentators read into it — change your shirt, switch cars, and the police lose the trail.

Fuel, engine and gas stations

The second loudest detail. When Jason gets back behind the wheel, a plate with the car’s make and model pops up, and below it are separate icons for fuel and engine condition.

At first that looked like guesswork. Later drops, per Kotaku, showed more: the player pulls up to a gas station and a small in-game menu opens offering repairs and refuelling at different prices. Insider Gaming adds that gas stations are marked on the minimap.

If this survives to release, fuel becomes a mechanic in a mainline GTA for the first time.

Stamina and melee combat

In the fight beside the wrecked car a stamina bar appears on screen — in the top-left corner, per Insider Gaming. TweakTown adds a detail the others do not have: the bar drains faster when the player swings a heavy object such as a large wrench.

The melee itself, as Kotaku describes it, is far closer to Red Dead Redemption 2 than to GTA V. The practical upshot is simple: you can no longer win a brawl by mashing the punch button.

Morality: an icon GTA never had

After the driver is killed a small devil icon with a minus sign appears on screen. Insider Gaming describes it differently — as a character emoji that turns into a frown.

Both outlets read it the same way: the game appears to have a morality or reputation system in the spirit of Red Dead Redemption 2’s honour. For a series where you could do anything for twenty years without consequence, that is a notable change — if it is real.

Stats: basketball gives +2% Focus

Jason plays basketball outside his house. After a made shot a notification pops up showing a gain in a Focus stat — TweakTown gives the exact figure, +2%.

No such stat existed in GTA V or San Andreas. Commentators conclude that mini-games feed character stats, meaning there is an RPG layer. What Focus actually does is not visible in the footage, and we are not going to invent it.

Fishing: confirmed by two separate clips

Fishing in GTA 6 has been talked about for a long time. In the leaks it turns up twice: a fishing rod in Jason’s inventory, and — in another clip, while flying over water — a pop-up about a nearby fishing spot naming the fish, Common Snook.

Inventory, looting and small details

Next, briefly, the things both sources describe:

• Looting bodies. The dead are now searched for ammo, money and valuables — previously they simply dropped them. The animation, per Kotaku, is noticeably faster than in RDR2.
• The weapon wheel is back, but smaller than GTA V’s and closer to RDR2’s. The likely consequence: no more carrying twelve guns and an RPG at once.
• Healing items on the same wheel. The name Zombix is visible in the footage; Insider Gaming describes them as pills that regenerate health with diminishing returns.
• Picking up a hat. Jason knocks a guard’s hat off, picks it up off the ground and puts it on — another RDR2 detail.
• Storage and Loadout. Prompts reading «Storage», «Loadout» and «Close» appear by the car: weapons can apparently be left in the trunk.
• Two ways to steal a car. A Clone Key prompt — clone the fob and open the car quietly — sits alongside an option to smash the window.

Nudity and gore

This is 18+ material, and we say so plainly, without detail. Per Kotaku’s description, the leaks include a strip club and a nudist settlement, show nudity of both sexes and noticeably varied body shapes. Separately there is a moment where an NPC loses a limb during a hit-and-run — the first sign of dismemberment in a modern GTA.

The build’s age has already been revised once

This is the detail most retellings get wrong, because they quote the first figure and never update it.

On 18 August TweakTown wrote the material came from an old build — «over a year», possibly 2023. Later Kotaku noticed the song playing in one of the clips: «Sports Car» by Tate McRae, released January 2025. If that is the final version of the track, the build cannot be from 2023.

Kotaku immediately supplies the counter-argument against itself: Rockstar could have received the track from the label weeks or months before its public release. So the question is open, and any confident «this is a 2023 build» is no longer supported.

What we do not claim

• That any of these mechanics will be in the final game. Rockstar has confirmed no individual frame.
• That we watched the clips. We are retelling three outlets’ descriptions, not our own viewing.
• That the three descriptor icons mean clothing, face and vehicle specifically. The sources disagree, and we showed the disagreement in a table.
• That Focus affects anything specific. Only the name and a +2% gain are visible.

We covered the leaks as an event separately — that is in the piece on the week of leaks, and the company’s first official reaction is broken down in Rockstar’s statement. What in the GTA 6 rumour mill is backed by nothing at all is collected in our rumour check.

In short

The leaked clips show a game noticeably closer to Red Dead Redemption 2 than to GTA V: six wanted stars instead of five, descriptors instead of one bar, fuel and repairs at gas stations, stamina in fights, looting bodies, morality and character stats. Rockstar has confirmed none of these mechanics, the build’s age is not established, and the only lawful source of truth is the game itself on 19 November 2026.