Terminal cancer patients given early access to pre-release GTA 6

Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6) , the latest installment in the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series, was announced in February 2022 and was originally scheduled for release in late 2025. However, after two postponements, the release date has now been pushed back to November 19, 2026. It has been rumored that Rockstar Games, the publisher, may have offered early access to the game to a terminally ill fan who was eagerly awaiting its release.

Rockstar May Have Granted Terminally Ill Fan's Wish To Play GTA 6 Before Passing - Insider Gaming
https://insider-gaming.com/rockstar-terminally-ill-fan-wish-play-gta-6-early/

Rockstar gives terminally ill fan early access to GTA 6 | Eurogamer.net
https://www.eurogamer.net/rockstar-gives-terminally-ill-fan-early-access-to-gta-6

Anthony Armstrong, a developer at Ubisoft Toronto, Ubisoft's Canadian subsidiary, posted the following message on the business social networking site LinkedIn, pleading with his family to let him test play GTA 6.

'To everyone at Rockstar Games and Rockstar Toronto, and anyone else who has helped, a family member of mine has recently received terrible news after a long battle with cancer. He has been given 6-12 months to live. I'm reaching out because he is a huge GTA fan and this latest prognosis means he may not live to see GTA 6 release. In the best case scenario, he will pass away within release month. He currently lives very close to the Oakville studio, so I'm hoping some of you can set up an exclusive playtest so he can experience the game before he passes away. I fully understand the need for confidentiality during development, so an NDA would be necessary at the very least. If anyone would like to privately message me about this or point me in the right direction, I'd love to hear from you.'

The post has been deleted at the time of writing, but screenshots of the post have already been circulating on social media.

Rockstar Games accepted a terminally ill fan's wish to play GTA 6 early after a family member publicly shared his story. pic.twitter.com/xIyBqMhRX7

— GTA 6 Countdown ⏳ (@GTAVI_Countdown) January 18, 2026

A few weeks after this post, Armstrong updated his LinkedIn post, adding, 'The CEO of Take-Two Interactive has reached out to me and I'm waiting to hear from Rockstar Games to discuss further details. Thank you to everyone who has supported me, shared information with me, and contacted those involved.' He also added, 'I spoke with them today and they have given me great news. I can't express it enough, but I'm truly grateful,' suggesting that a relative with terminal cancer will now be able to play GTA 6 early.

This isn't the first time Rockstar Games has granted this type of wish: in 2018, a terminally ill gamer was granted early access to Red Dead Redemption 2 weeks before its release. Bethesda Softworks has also honored the deceased by immortalizing their names in Fallout 4 and Starfield .