Ad using leaked GTA 6 footage pulled

An ad for Goat Simulator 3 used leaked footage from Grand Theft Auto 6, and was subsequently taken down by GTA publisher Take-Two

An advert for the recently-released Goat Simulator 3 has been taken offline after Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two issued a take-down notice over the use of leaked GTA 6 footage.

The ad in question focused on an in-game character called Shaun, who in the ad is reportedly practising his actions for the game. At one point, he mentions that he was recently featured in some footage that was leaked recently, before cutting to a scene from GTA 6 with Shaun in the background.

Take-Two has been famously litigious in the past over leaked content for the games it publishes. Media outlet TrustedReviews was forced by Take-Two to make a $1.5 million donation to charity after it leaked a map of the soon-to-be-released game Red Dead Redemption 2.

Goat Simulator 3 is the second game in the Goat Simulator series. Picture: Coffee Stain

Despite presumably knowing this, Goat Simulator 3 developer Coffee Stain Studios still decided to go ahead and use the footage. The advertisement was available online on social media and YouTube for several hours before it was struck down by Take-Two.

It’s not the first time Coffee Stain has mocked other games. The reveal trailer for Goat Simulator 3 parodied the reveal trailer for another game, Dead Island 2, which has been in development for a number of years but is scheduled to release in 2023.

Grand Theft Auto 6 footage leaked in September this year, with a hacker releasing over 90 videos of in-development footage of the game. The hacked videos reportedly showed a build of the game from 2021, and were in a very rough state, as would be expected in a game that’s still yet to be officially announced and is still in active development.

The hacker also claimed to have access to the game’s source code, which can be described as a “master key” to a game, in that it would allow programmers and modders to analyse the code and do just about anything they want with the game. The hacker allegedly tried to strike a deal with Take-Two over the hacks, but it’s thought that Take-Two opted not to engage with them.

In other Grand Theft Auto news, a GTA movie with Eminem was reportedly in production, but couldn’t get greenlit. Industry insider Kirk Ewing told a BBC podcast that he had lined up an offer from a producer, attached Top Gun director Tony Scott, and rapper Eminem to star in the game, but GTA developer Rockstar turned it down.

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.