Rockstar May Have Granted Terminally Ill Fan’s Wish To Play GTA 6 Before Passing

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In December, a Ubisoft Toronto developer posted on LinkedIn with a heartfelt, emotional message. The developer, Anthony Armstrong, revealed that a member of their family had been battling cancer ‘for years’ and had been given the news that nobody ever wants to hear: they had months left to live.

Armstrong explained that they were a huge GTA fan, but the final timeline meant that they wouldn’t get to play Grand Theft Auto 6 after years of waiting. It was recently confirmed by Armstrong that they’d finally managed to talk with Rockstar Games and that they’d received ‘great news’ and issued thanks to the developer.

Gamer with Months to Live May Get to Play GTA 6 Early

The post on Anthony Armstrong’s LinkedIn page was deleted after final adjustments were made, keeping followers updated about the situation. It has been theorized that this was due to some kind of legal requirement, given that the post almost confirmed that the family member would get hands-on with GTA 6 early.

Here’s the original post text:

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 woh 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 update, he may not be around long enough to actually get to see GTA 6 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.

Weeks later, Armstrong updated the post with two more lines:

Update: The CEO of Take-Two reached out and we are just waiting to hear from the Rockstar team to discuss this further. Thank you to everyone who has shown support, reshared, and reached out to your contacts for us.

And:

Final Update: We spoke to them today and got great news. That’s all I can really say, but thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

When you run a quick search, you can see that Google still has the post cached, but it has since been deleted from LinkedIn:

Note: The ‘1 month ago’ refers to the original post date and not the subsequent updates

On social media, some channels were able to grab screencaptures of the post before it was deleted by Armstrong.

This is far from the first time a situation like this has surfaced in gaming, and it’s not the first time Rockstar Games has granted such a wish.

In 2018, a terminally ill gamer was allowed to play Red Dead Redemption 2 early, weeks before the game was set to launch. Bethesda Game Studios has honored the passing of fans by immortalizing them in games, such as Fallout 4 and Starfield.

Do you think this is a huge win for Rockstar Games, or is it a bout of positive PR at a time when the developer is facing bad press? Let us know what you’re thinking on the Insider Gaming Discord server.

For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Rust’s director has ‘offered’ $25 million to keep New World: Aeternum alive

Grant’s passion for gaming started on the Amstrad CPC when he wasn’t even old enough to walk properly. Now, he’s a multi-platform expert gamer with an undying love for the…