Rockstar Games Said to Have Granted a Terminally Ill Fan's Wish to Play GTA 6

Grand Theft Auto 6 is months away from its November 19 release date, but a particular fan might just be able to play the open world crime game ahead of launch. Take-Two and Rockstar Games are said to have reached out to a terminally ill fan to grant their wish to play GTA 6 while they still can.

That's according to Anthony Armtrong, a family member of the terminally ill fan and himself a developer at Ubisoft Toronto. As per Armstrong's now deleted LinkedIn post (via Insider Gaming), the GTA fan, who has been battling cancer, might be getting a chance to playtest Grand Theft Auto 6. After posting about his family member and confirming that they had just received “the worst possible news”, Armstrong asked Rockstar if it was possible for the terminally ill fan to experience GTA 6 before passing.

“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 who has been battling cancer for years just recently got the worst possible news, he was given 6 – 12 months to live,” Armstrong explained in his now deleted original LinkedIn post weeks back.

“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.”

Rockstar, Take-Two Reach Out to Fan

It seems the terminally ill fan's wishes may come true. A few weeks after his original post, Armstrong shared an update, claiming that Take-Two Interactive's CEO had reached out to him, and he was waiting to hear from Rockstar to discuss things further.

In a final update, Armstrong said Rockstar Games had reached out to him. “We spoke to them today and got great news. That's all I can really say, but thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

All posts were later deleted, but from the tone of the final update, it seems the terminally ill GTA fan may be getting his wish to play GTA 6 fulfilled.

Neither Rockstar nor Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick have made an official announcement about allowing the fan to experience GTA 6 under special circumstances.

But this isn't the first time Rockstar would have done something like this for a terminally ill fan. Back in 2018, the studio reportedly granted a fan's wish to play Red Dead Redemption 2 ahead of release.

GTA 6, which has been twice delayed from its original fall 2025 release window, is now set to launch on November 19, 2026.