There could be a major obstacle in your way when it comes to playing Grand Theft Auto 6, as a prominent leaker has revealed plans from Rockstar to ban millions of Playstation and Xbox players from accessing key parts of the game when it releases.
There's absolutely no doubt that Grand Theft Auto 6 is the biggest game of the decade – and arguably even the century – the entire gaming world has eagerly waited over 10 years for a follow up to the series' last entry.
Fans have had to make do with jaw-dropping visual mods and are even holding out hope for major new remasters of old Rockstar games to pass the time, but little can temper the excitement we all share for that fated day on May 26, 2026.
However, new leaks suggest that some players could be blocked from accessing many of the game's most prominent features — and this time it has nothing to do with an ever-rising price tag.
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Why could people be blocked from playing GTA 6?
As reported by GAMINGbible, a new leak from reliable insider Tez2 on X has suggested that key parts of GTA 6 could be locked behind an age verification system — including the incredibly popular GTA Online mode.
Responding to a joke post that poked fun at the United Kingdom's new Online Safety Act by saying you don't need verification for Vanilla Unicorn, GTA 5's in-game strip club, Tez2 outlined:
"Jokes aside, Rockstar is planning to implement age assurance checks in the near future, rolling them out by region. You may need to verify your age to access GTA Online, or certain features like phone messages, text chat, Snapmatic may be restricted until you verify your age."
While the Grand Theft Auto series has always held the '18' or 'M' age rating, the only barrier to entry would be acquiring the game and once you got past that you could access all content regardless of how old you are.
It would be naive to pretend that there aren't a large number of gamers under the age of 18 that are currently playing GTA 5 and would be logging into the new game on day one, but this could be Rockstar's way of adding further hurdles that end up blocking access for millions of gamers.
"80% of their player base is gone if they can't verify," writes one user in response to the news on X, with another adding that "it has literally never been more over."
Where would the age verification system affect?
It appears as if not every country would be subject to these new age verification blocks though, as Tez2 implies that Rockstar will only roll it out in areas that have similar existing age-blocking laws.
"They have the ability to target specific regions," the leaker writes in response to someone asking if it'll only be for the UK. "Which regions? No idea, but the UK will definitely be the first."
Going by this logic there's a good chance that gamers in the United States will largely be free from these regulations, although perhaps a number of states that have already banned adult content websites could be hit.