Grand Theft Auto VI (or GTA 6, in most circles) is slated to come out on November 19th, 2026. And as Rockstar Games go, this is probably the most secured title for the company, given the high prestige the franchise has within the gaming industry.
So not a lot of people besides GTA 6’s own devs had the chance to play any build of it — save for one person.
On LinkedIn, a Ubisoft developer — Toronto-based Anthony Armstrong — has reached out to Rockstar in order to try his hand on the slim chance of getting such an opportunity. Not for him, but for a member of his family who, paraphrasing his own words, received the “the worst possible news” of not having long enough to live — most likely, the cancer will claim that person before the game comes out.
It sucks especially in this case because said person — who remained nameless, evidently — is a huge, huge fan of GTA, and has been waiting for the sixth game to come out before things got worse for them. Well, things did get worse, in the worst possible manner.
Cue in Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two Interactive (Rockstar’s parent company) CEO, reached out to Armstrong, stating that he was in talks with Rockstar Games to see what could be done. A couple of weeks later, Armstrong provided another update, saying they had great news but, due to many obvious reasons, that would be all they would say.
Now, we get it: there is no actual confirmation that Armstrong’s relative played GTA 6. But there is room for precedence: Rockstar itself allowed terminally ill residents at a healthcare unit to play a Red Dead Redemption 2 demo in 2018, and Nintendo allowed a pre-launch E3 demo build of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to be sent to a patient’s bedside in that same year, for instance.
Given that GTA 6 was supposed to come out this May before its pushback to November, it is likely that Armstrong’s relative would have a better chance of playing the final game had the delay not happened.
So, yeah, great on them for getting the chance. We’ll admit the jealousy, but it is for one hell of a cause.
