First screenshot of Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks online

As one of the biggest game franchises around, there is understandably a huge amount of secrecy around GTA 6, which would be the eight installment in the GTA series, excluding expansion packs.

What we do know is that the game is in development, as Rockstar Games confirmed this in a GTA 5 Community Update last year, when it assured "active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway."

This was after hackers leaked Graft Theft Auto VI content, in one of the biggest confidential data breaches in gaming history.

This leak revealed development footage and source code, and now it looks like we have a screenshot to go along with it.

The image appeared on the GTA 6 Reddit thread this week, where user u/thetensedoctor posted it under a spoiler warning.

"This looks so good man," they added, and of course Reddit users couldn't resist hitting the 'see spoiler' button.

The image reveals a nighttime scene showing what looks like a female playable character. She's walking around a fenced-off car park area in a city suburb, while a group of people stand chatting together to the left.

It's unclear exactly when the screenshot was obtained, but it was later shared on Twitter in the early hours of Wednesday (March 15) and reveals some impressive graphics that have got fans very excited.

Responding to the image, which has since been shared across the internet, one person wrote: "This game is going to be f**king insane."

Another agreed, responding: "[It's] genuinely gonna be a world event, the day the trailer drops will be crazy of course, but the day [the] game releases is basically going to be like humanity’s mini quarantine."

"Even by an unfinished game's standards, these graphics are honestly some of the best I've ever seen," one fan added, while another commented: "It feels like so real. Damn, I can't wait to play this game."

The last GTA game, GTA V, was released in 2013 and raked in more than $800 million in sales in its first 24 hours on the shelves.

Last year, more than 90 videos and images of the long-awaited follow up were leaked, in an intrusion which Rockstar Games described as “extremely disappointing”.

A statement from Rockstar Games at the time confirmed an unauthorized third party had illegally accessed and downloaded confidential information from its systems, including GTA footage.

The team said they will “properly” introduce them to GTA 6 when it is ready.

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