The person behind the viral GTA 6 gameplay “leak” video has admitted it was created using generative AI, amid a growing backlash from fans.
IGN had reported on X / Twitter posts made by the Zap Actu GTA6 account, which included "leaked" gameplay clips of GTA 6 while pointing to a Discord. One video posted earlier this week — now deleted — showed playable character Lucia walking in the rain. It went viral, securing 8 million views in just over 24 hours despite a community note warning against trusting it as official footage from Rockstar. But there were many other similar clips, also with millions of impressions, from the same account, and based on the replies, a number of people believed they featured genuine leaked gameplay footage.
In Zap Actu GTA6’s Discord, a growing backlash emerged today as newcomers flooded in to seek clarity on whether these were genuine leaks of AI-generated videos.
Now, ZapActu has come clean, issuing a statement and responding to questions from IGN. They insisted the videos were designed to “observe people’s reactions and to demonstrate how easy it has become in 2025 to blur the line between reality and AI-generated content.” ZapActu apologized “to anyone who felt frustrated, disappointed, or misled by these posts.” They continued: “This was never done with bad intentions.”
ZapActu said they did not make any money from the posts, nor was there a financial motive behind “this experiment.” ZapActu is now in the process of deleting posts and closing accounts.
“My intention was never to harm anyone,” they continued. “I simply wanted to create something intriguing that could bring people together and spark discussion within the GTA 6 community. I genuinely never expected a single video to generate such massive engagement and reach.”
And, in a direct message to IGN, they concluded: “It was a huge joke actually, I did it just to entertain the community. Sorry for the false hope lol.”
Misleading videos made by generative AI have exploded on the internet in recent years as the technology has become more popular and accessible. And it is a problem that affects all entertainment. Last month, IGN reported on physicist Brian Cox, who went public with complaints about YouTube accounts that had used AI to create deepfakes of him saying “nonsense” about comet 3I/ATLAS. Similarly, Keanu Reeves recently hit out at AI deepfakes of the John Wick star selling products without his permission, insisting "it's not a lot of fun." In July, it was reported that Reeves pays a company a few thousand dollars a month to get the likes of TikTok and Meta to take down imitators.
Can anything meaningful be done? Last month, the Japanese government made a formal request asking OpenAI to refrain from copyright infringement after Sora 2 users generated videos featuring the likenesses of copyrighted characters from anime and video games. Sora 2, which OpenAI launched on October 1, is capable of generating 20-second long videos at 1080p resolution, complete with sound. Soon after its release, social media was flooded with videos generated by the app, many of which contained depictions of copyrighted characters including those from popular anime and game franchises such as One Piece, Demon Slayer, Pokémon, and Mario. Despite the protestations of the Japanese, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has declared Sora 2 videos using copyrighted characters "interactive fan fiction."
As for GTA 6, given the game isn't due out for another 12 months, expect more, increasingly convincing AI-generated gameplay "leaks" to hit the internet as fans desperate for official information from Rockstar - and, hopefully, Trailer 3 - wait on.
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Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
