The GTA 6 Florida man leak may have given players one of the strangest looks at Leonida so far, but a former Rockstar developer believes fans may be giving the wider leak situation too much importance. New footage appears to show Jason dealing with a man trying to fill a bathtub with gasoline at a gas station, while former Rockstar North technical director Obbe Vermeij has played down the impact of the recent leaks.
That creates an interesting contrast around GTA 6 right now. Fans are pulling apart every leaked clip for gameplay details, map clues and hidden mechanics, yet Vermeij believes most future players will probably never see any of this footage before Rockstar shows the game properly.
The leaked material has not been officially released by Rockstar and appears to come from an unfinished version of GTA 6. That means animations, UI elements and even some gameplay systems shown in the footage could still look very different in the final game.
GTA 6’s Florida Inspiration Is Getting Even Stranger
The latest footage appears to show Jason arriving at a gas station where an NPC has parked a pickup truck with a bathtub sitting in the back. Instead of filling the vehicle normally, the man seems to be pumping gasoline directly into the tub.
A gas station employee tries to stop him, but the situation quickly turns into the kind of strange argument that feels perfectly suited to Leonida. The man reportedly complains about the government and refuses to stop, turning what looks like a simple roadside encounter into another example of Rockstar leaning heavily into Florida-style chaos.
Rockstar has already made Leonida’s inspiration very clear in the official GTA 6 trailers. Strange roadside characters, viral social media clips, reckless behavior and exaggerated versions of real incidents have all helped make the state feel like Rockstar’s own version of Florida.
This new encounter takes that idea even further. There have been real cases of people transporting large amounts of gasoline in questionable containers, so it is possible Rockstar is once again taking inspiration from bizarre real-world stories and turning them into open-world encounters.
The scene becomes more chaotic when Jason steals the pickup and the owner tries to stop him. Jason eventually gets onto the road, but the gasoline in the back of the vehicle appears to make the truck extremely dangerous.
After a collision, the pickup explodes and Jason dies. That raises the possibility that the fuel is not simply there for the joke and may actually have gameplay consequences if it catches fire or is involved in a crash.
The footage also appears to show an early version of GTA 6’s familiar Wasted screen. Its presentation looks fairly basic in the leaked build, which would make sense if the footage comes from an unfinished version of the game.
There is also a small Lucia clue hidden in the same sequence. An objective reportedly appears telling Jason to Return to Lucia, suggesting she is present somewhere nearby even though much of the leaked gameplay making the rounds has focused heavily on Jason.
Taken together, these details suggest Rockstar may be building a world where ordinary driving and random NPC encounters can quickly turn into completely unpredictable situations. That could end up being one of the biggest differences between Leonida and the open world of GTA 5.
Former Rockstar Dev Says the Leaks Are a “Nothing Burger”
While fans continue studying every frame of the leaked footage, former Rockstar North technical director Obbe Vermeij has offered a very different view of the situation. Vermeij worked at Rockstar North for years and contributed to several major GTA games before leaving the studio.
Speaking about the recent wave of GTA 6 leaks, Vermeij reportedly described the situation as a “nothing burger.” His point is that the leaks may feel enormous to hardcore fans following every development, but they probably represent only a very small part of the audience that will eventually buy GTA 6.
Vermeij argued that most future players are not actively searching for unfinished gameplay clips or following every GTA 6 rumor online. Many will simply wait for Rockstar’s official marketing and eventually experience the game without ever seeing the leaked footage.
He reportedly estimated that around 90% of future players are not following these leaks closely. That figure is his own estimate rather than official Rockstar data, but the wider point makes sense when considering just how large GTA’s audience has become.
The discussion also puts Rockstar’s secretive marketing strategy into perspective. Because the company reveals relatively little compared with many other publishers, even a short unfinished clip can feel like a major event for fans who have been waiting months for new information.
Vermeij also compared the current situation with the controversy surrounding GTA: San Andreas and its infamous Hot Coffee content. From his perspective, the current GTA 6 leak situation is nowhere near the level of trouble Rockstar faced during that period.
He ultimately expects GTA 6 itself to overshadow the leaks completely once the game is released. Vermeij suggested the title could continue selling for many years, making the current controversy look like little more than a temporary moment in the game’s much longer life.
That does not mean Rockstar or Take-Two is ignoring the leaks. The companies have continued trying to contain the spread of unofficial footage, while leaked clips have repeatedly disappeared from social media following copyright action.
Still, Vermeij’s comments offer a useful reminder. Right now, a leaked clip showing a man filling a bathtub with gasoline can dominate the GTA conversation for a day, but that attention may disappear quickly once Rockstar begins showing more of the finished game.
The leaks are giving fans fascinating glimpses of GTA 6, and this latest Florida-inspired encounter is one of the strangest examples yet. But if Vermeij is right, the wider audience may barely remember any of this once millions of players finally arrive in Leonida themselves.
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