Rockstar Games, who is the developer behind Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6), have granted early access to GTA 6 to a terminally ill fan who feared he wouldn't live long enough to play it. Several reliable reports suggest the fan, diagnosed with cancer and given just 6 to 12 months to live. This compassionate moment in gaming news began with a public appeal on social media from a relative working in the games industry, quickly gaining attention across Reddit, X, and gaming outlets before Rockstar’s official launch cycle even began.
Now, the terminally ill fan could experience GTA 6 in a controlled setting before its November 19, 2026 release which is a move that would reinforce Rockstar Games' reputation for fan-centric goodwill while highlighting the impact of community and emotional storytelling in the larger GTA 6 hype cycle. The story of this fan started in late 2025 when "Anthony Armstrong", who is a UI integrator at Ubisoft Toronto, shared a heartfelt message on LinkedIn about a close family member who had been fighting cancer for years and was recently given a prognosis of six to twelve months to live.
Armstrong also explained that his relative was a lifelong Grand Theft Auto fan living very close to Rockstar's Oakville studio and always genuinely feared missing the GTA 6 release due to repeated delays. He made a public plea asking if anyone at Rockstar Games or Rockstar Toronto could help arrange a private early playtest or exclusive GTA 6 access, even under strict non-disclosure agreements (NDA), to ensure secrecy and compliance with release protocols. His original post spread rapidly online before it was later deleted.
Screenshots and shared updates from the evolving LinkedIn thread showed Armstrong later commenting that Take-Two Interactive's CEO "Strauss Zelnick" had personally reached out, and that the family had received "great news" after speaking with Rockstar, but he gave no further details. Online gaming communities interpreted this as a sign that Rockstar had agreed to the request. Although Rockstar Games has not issued a formal public statement confirming the early access, multiple gaming news outlets report the company did respond positively behind the scenes. Reports across industry sources indicate that Rockstar and Take-Two representatives contacted Armstrong and his family following the viral appeal, leading to confidential discussions and an apparently favorable outcome.
By the way, this is not Rockstar's first time granting early access to a fan in exceptional circumstances; in 2018 the studio arranged a similar act of kindness for a terminally ill fan of Red Dead Redemption 2, which became a well-known story in the gaming community. The reaction across news outlets and social platforms has been broadly supportive. However, no explicit Rockstar press release has confirmed the specific details, so some aspects remain based on indirect statements and the deleted LinkedIn updates.
I personally think that, even though Rockstar have strict rules to follow, but sometimes it shows act of kindness for such people who are its fan. Anyway, what do you guys think of this move made by Rockstar in response to terminally ill GTA fan? Let us know all your answers in the comments where you can also provide latest news so I can make a breakdown of it.