By Dexerto | Created at 2026-06-17 14:29:24 | Updated at 2026-06-18 10:09:06
19 hours ago
One developer is trying to beat Rockstar to the punch by releasing his own version of GTA 6 made using generative AI tools.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is finally due to be released on November 19, 2026, over 13 years since the last game in the series. We’ve had two full trailers so far, with more to come as marketing is expected to ramp up significantly this summer.
However, all of this waiting is clearly too much for one fan, as he’s decided to try and make his own version of GTA 6 and launch it before Rockstar does.
Dev is using AI to make his own GTA 6 clone
The dev, known as Ziwen on X, has been sharing daily updates on his progress since June 10. He revealed that the game started out on Godot, a free game engine that can be used without paying royalties, and used vibe coding with a “loop of AI agents.”
Day 1 of building GTA 6. Still feels fake typing that out.
Upgraded to Claude Max 20x just for this. Spent a couple hours getting the whole project structured and pushed to the repo. Sandbox is up and running.
No studio, no publisher. Just whoever shows up. We picked Godot on… https://t.co/ZTe74CCEMV pic.twitter.com/t30hiReAK1
— Ziwen (@ziwenxu_) June 10, 2026
“Day 1 of building GTA 6. Still feels fake typing that out,” he posted in the first update. “The goal: beat the real GTA 6 to launch. Ambitious, probably stupid, doing it anyway.”
At this stage, the game was nothing more than a blue blob that was able to walk around a 3-D space with a handful of platforms. However, things progressed quickly from there, and he enlisted the help of other contributors.
I spent a week ignoring everyone who said to switch engines.
Day 7, I pivot. You were right.
Building GTA 6 with a loop of AI agents. I spent the entire day on one thing: Swapping the project out of Godot and onto Unreal.
Yesterday I said I'd test Unity and probably skip… https://t.co/abvL6jJMhY pic.twitter.com/wjpPgUK6Tw
— Ziwen (@ziwenxu_) June 16, 2026
Over the next few days, he was able to create assets for the main character, NPCs, cards, and buildings, resulting in footage that looks a lot more like a real open-world game. Pretty soon, there were cinematics and loading screens too.
Fast forward to day seven, Ziwen revealed that he had moved the project over to Unreal Engine instead, explaining, “You guys pushed back hard: if you’re serious about AAA, get on a real engine. So here we are.”
This came with updated footage that showed in-game news reels similar to the ones shown in the first GTA 6 trailer, as well as a character running around a Vice City-esque map. If you keep in mind that the project was only a week old and had just moved to the new engine, the graphics looked very real.
Given how much progress has already been made in just a week, there’s no telling what Ziwen’s GTA 6 clone will look like after months of work. But he has a tight deadline, as Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has reaffirmed the November release date.
