A new Red Dead Redemption 2 leak may offer a big clue at the setting of GTA 6, the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series that Rockstar Games hasn’t announced yet, but is believed to be in development for PS5, Xbox Series X, and possibly PC as well. Over on the GTA Forums, a dataminer revealed some interesting bits of code they recently discovered while combing through the files of Red Dead Redemption 2. More specifically, they found files for various different guns that are not only not in Red Dead Redemption 2, but aren’t even era-appropriate for the open-world western, primarily set in 1899. At first glance, you’d assume these are leftover files from GTA 5, and this may be the case, but there’s also a case that these could be for GTA 6, and reveal when the game may be set.
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Over on the GTA Forums, user and dataminer “DerekLeet” noticed that there are several files for weapons that weren’t around in 1899, but also aren’t modern weapons, seemingly ruling out that they are for GTA 5 and GTA Online.
The first of these weapons is the Browning Pistol, while the second is the L1AL Rifle. The AK47 was also discovered in the files of Red Dead Redemption 2, but unlike the other two, this could very well be files leftover from GTA 5. That said, the AK47 has a different name in the GTA 5 files than it does here in the Red Dead Redemption 2 files, which casts doubt on it being leftover from the 2013 game.
There’s a curveball though: these files have been in the game since launch. Of course, this begs the question: why would Rockstar Games be using Red Dead Redemption 2 before release to test guns for GTA 6?
Unfortunately, right now, this new leak, as is, creates more questions than it answers. That said, given that all of the aforementioned guns were all used during the 1900s, particularly during the latter half of the century, it could bolster the rumors, reports, and leaks claiming GTA 6 is set in the 1980s Vice City.
At the moment of publishing, Rockstar Games has not commented on this leak in any capacity, and it’s highly unlikely this will change. However, if it does, we will be sure to update the story with whatever is provided. In the meantime, taking everything with a major grain of salt.