According to media reports, Rockstar Games granted a terminally ill fan a wish and allowed him to play Grand Theft Auto 6 before the game's official release, which is currently scheduled for November. As he states Insider Gaming, Rockstar contacted the family after a LinkedIn post shared by a family member went viral and reportedly caught the attention of Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick. The identity of the fan has not been released.
Anthony Armstrong, a developer from the Ubisoft Toronto studio, shared the story publicly last month and asked for support from industry colleagues and well-connected people. In the publication, he stated that a member of his family has been fighting cancer for years, but that they recently faced an extremely difficult prognosis. "A member of my family, who has been battling cancer for a long time, has just received the news that he has between six and twelve months to live," Armstrong wrote. He added that he is a big fan of the GTA series and that there is a possibility that he will not wait for the release of GTA 6. "In the best case, he would leave us in the same month when the game should be released," he said. Armstrong also noted that his cousin lives very close to Rockstar's Oakville studio, which is why he hoped a special, private playtest could be arranged. After the post gained a lot of attention, Armstrong updated it several times. He first confirmed that the message had reached Strauss Zelnick, and then in his latest update stated that Rockstar had contacted him with the great news. "I can't say more than that for now, but thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone," Armstrong concluded. As a reminder, Grand Theft Auto 6 is currently scheduled for release on November 19, after multiple delays. Meanwhile, earlier in the day, emergency services intervened at the Rockstar North studio, which is working on GTA 6, due to an incident in the boiler room, which led to the arrival of several fire crews. Here you can read more about that incident.
