Take-Two Interactive is reportedly issuing DMCA takedown notices against people sharing images and gameplay footage of an early conceptual Grand Theft Auto VI map that recently surfaced from a large Rockstar development archive. GTA specialist videotech reported that the company has begun targeting posts containing the material, which appears to originate from a roughly 192GB collection tied to Rockstar’s 2022 security breach. The takedowns add another layer of credibility to the newly surfaced files, although they do not independently confirm every claim being made about the assets.
The archive began circulating publicly on September 18 and contains a large amount of Grand Theft Auto V development material, including source code, internal tools and cut content. Community researchers also identified what they believe are very early GTA VI development assets embedded in the files, including rough map geometry and blockout data that may date back to around 2014 or 2015. The newly resurfaced material appears to be connected to the same broader cache covered in reports about the 192GB Rockstar archive containing early GTA VI assets.
One of the most notable discoveries is an extremely early version of the GTA VI world that researchers have reportedly managed to load inside GTA V. Images circulating from the files show basic terrain and city layouts rather than anything resembling the near-final version of Leonida seen in Rockstar’s official marketing. Community analysis has suggested that some recognizable locations, including areas corresponding to Vice City International Airport, downtown districts and coastal regions, were already being blocked out during this early phase of development.
The material should not be confused with the more recent GTA VI gameplay leaks that surfaced in August 2026. Those clips reportedly came from a separate incident and prompted Take-Two to pursue DMCA subpoenas against platforms including Discord, X and YouTube as part of an effort to identify the source. The current 192GB archive, by contrast, is widely believed to trace back to the 2022 Rockstar breach associated with Lapsus$ member Arion Kurtaj rather than representing a new intrusion.
Take-Two’s reported takedowns are significant because they show the publisher actively enforcing its copyright over at least some of the material now spreading online. Copyright removals are not the same as a public authentication statement, however, and companies can issue takedowns for content that contains proprietary material without confirming every accompanying description or interpretation. Rockstar itself has not issued a new public statement specifically addressing the early conceptual GTA VI map.
The leak has also exposed substantial amounts of abandoned GTA V content, including development work connected to Liberty City and canceled single-player expansions. Those discoveries have attracted nearly as much attention as the early GTA VI files because they provide a rare look at Rockstar’s internal development history and projects that never reached release. The archive therefore spans multiple periods and projects rather than functioning as a clean snapshot of GTA VI alone.
For GTA VI specifically, the map assets are most useful as historical development material. A blockout from roughly a decade ago cannot be assumed to represent the final game’s scale, road network, landmarks or playable boundaries, especially after years of iteration. Rockstar’s officially released material remains the only reliable source for the version of Leonida players will actually encounter at launch.
Take-Two has a long history of moving quickly against unauthorized Grand Theft Auto material, and its reported response here is consistent with its recent enforcement efforts. The DMCA activity makes the early map assets harder to dismiss as random fan creations, but it still does not establish that every file, reconstruction or community interpretation attached to the leak is accurate. Until Rockstar comments directly, the safest conclusion is that genuine internal material appears to be circulating alongside analysis that remains partly speculative.
