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Did Rockstar grant a terminally ill fan early access to 'GTA 6'?
LinkedIn post from a Ubisoft developer asking for a playtest quickly gained traction after news of another delay late last year
- PUBLISHED: Mon 19 Jan 2026, 1:02 PM
- By:
- Husain Rizvi
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When Rockstar Games confirmed late last year that Grand Theft Auto VI had been delayed to November 19, 2026, the news was met with predictable disappointment across the gaming world. But for one family, the delay carried far more emotional weight.
Shortly after the announcement, Anthony Armstrong, a developer at Ubisoft Toronto, wrote a heartfelt message on LinkedIn. In the post, Armstrong explained that a terminally ill member of his family had recently received devastating news: doctors had given him just six to twelve months to live.
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With GTA 6 now set to launch in November, Armstrong feared his family member might not live long enough to experience the game.
“To any of my connections at Rockstar Games and Rockstar Toronto, or anyone else that may be able to help,” Armstrong wrote. “A member of my family who has been battling cancer for years just recently got the worst possible news.”
He went on to explain that the fan lived only a short distance from Rockstar’s Oakville studio, and asked whether an exclusive, tightly controlled playtest could be arranged. Acknowledging Rockstar’s strict confidentiality, Armstrong even suggested that an NDA would be completely reasonable.
The post quickly gained traction. Over the following days, Armstrong continued to update the thread.
According to Armstrong's final update, both Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games had reached out with positive news, strongly suggesting that his terminally ill family member would indeed get the chance to play Grand Theft Auto VI early.
However, Armstrong has since deleted the original LinkedIn message and replaced it with a brief follow-up asking people not to contact him about the situation. He also thanked everyone who had sent kind words and support.
While Rockstar is notoriously private, it has previously allowed terminally ill fans to play games early. In 2018, the studio confirmed that a fan was given early access to Red Dead Redemption 2 under similar circumstances. Take-Two subsidiary 2K Games has also done something comparable with the Borderlands franchise.
