Millions of you were probably incredibly disappointed when Rockstar confirmed that Grand Theft Auto VI had been delayed to the 19th of November, but it's actually not a big problem for 99.9999 percent of us to wait a few extra months. It just means we'll get a better, more polished game. Not everyone has the privilege of time, though, which is why stuff like this is heart-warming.
Late last year, Ubisoft Toronto's Anthony Armstrong wrote a message on LinkedIn where he asked if anyone at Rockstar would be able to help a terminally ill member of his family to play GTA VI early because they had received news that he might have passed on before we reach November:
"To any of my connections at Rockstar Games and Rockstar Toronto, or anyone else that may be able to help. A member of my family who has been battling cancer for years just recently got the worst possible news, he was given 6-12 months to live.
"The reason I'm reaching out is that they are a huge GTA fan and, with this latest updates [sic], he may not be around long enough to actually get to see GTA6 launch, best case scenario he will be leaving us the same month it does. He currently lives only a stones throw from the Oakville studio, so its my hope that one of you may be able to set up an exclusive playtest, so he can have a chance to experience the game, before passing.
"I absolutely understand the need for secrecy at this point of development, so at the very least an NDA is probably needed. If anyone could send me a private message about this or provide any contact who could point us in the right direction, please do".
<bild>GTA Countdown on. X managed to take a screen-grab of the post before it was deleted.</bild>
Armstrong kept updating the post with some fairly positive news before giving us the best one when he wrote that they had received great news from Take-Two and Rockstar. This most certainly mean that the terminally ill guy will be able to play GTA VI in the near future.
The story doesn't stop there, however, as Rockstar is known for its secrecy. Especially after already seeing some really big leaks about GTA VI. It seems like they didn't want people to know that somebody will be able to play the game early, as Armstrong has deleted his original post and now written a message asking people not to contact him about this situation and post, while also thanking everyone for nice messages and support.
Why would Take-Two and maybe Rockstar tell Armstrong to delete his post? Do they fear that many others will fake illnesses and beg to play GTA VI early? Is the family afraid that some crazy gamers will track them down to learn details about the extremely anticipated game? There are quite a few reasons, but it's worth remembering that Rockstar had no problem with confirming that another terminally ill fan got to play Red Dead Redemption 2 early back in 2018 and that Take-Two subsidiary 2K Games did something very similar with Borderlands 4... Either way. I'm very happy to hear when publishers and developers allow stuff like this to happen when they usually have their doors sealed shut.