‘Thank you’: Rockstar may have honoured a fan’s ‘last GTA 6 wish’

Rockstar Games may have agreed to let a Ubisoft developer's terminally ill family member play GTA 6 before its official release. This comes after Ubisoft Toronto developer Anthony Armstrong posted an emotional appeal on social media. In December, Armstrong reportedly took to professional networking site LinkedIn to explain the Take Two-owned gaming studio that a family member had been fighting cancer for years and had only months to live. The family member was a huge GTA fan but wouldn't survive long enough to play Grand Theft Auto 6 when it launches.As reported by Insider Gaming, Armstrong recently posted an update stating that he spoke with Rockstar Games and received “great news,” thanking the developer. However, from the looks of the now-deleted post, it seems that Rockstar Games may have agreed to give early access to the GTA fan but has asked that the information be kept confidential due to legal reasons.In his initial post (as seen by Insider Gaming), Armstrong wrote: “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.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.”After a few weeks, Armstrong updated the post saying: “The CEO of Take-Two reached out and we are just waiting to hear from the Rockstar team to discuss this further. Thank you to everyone who has shown support, reshared, and reached out to your contacts for us.”Soon after, Armstrong also wrote: “Final Update: We spoke to them today and got great news. That’s all I can really say, but thank you all from the bottom of my heart.”This is not the first time something like this has happened with Rockstar or in gaming. In 2018, Rockstar allowed a terminally ill gamer play Red Dead Redemption 2 weeks before the game officially came out. Bethesda Game Studios has also honoured fans who passed away by including tributes to them in games like Fallout 4 and Starfield.