A palm tree emoji is doing a lot of heavy lifting for the Grand Theft Auto VI rumor mill right now. YouTuber Shirrako posted the said emoji on X and several Grand Theft Auto fans have decided it means he is getting an early copy of the upcoming sixthquel, which could very well be true but it could also be just a content creator chasing clout.
The post itself is nothing more than a lone palm tree, so it's a huge reach to say that it's hinting at a review or early-access copy. However, Shirrako is a big enough name that people pay attention to what he posts.
Shirrako runs one of the biggest no-commentary gaming channels on YouTube, with around 2.6 million subscribers and over 2.2 billion views built on clean, high-resolution full playthroughs in 4K and beyond. He has already announced a huge slate of GTA 6 coverage, the full main story, every side mission, a 100 percent completion guide, NPC and AI testing and ambience videos, all captured in 4K on PS5 Pro. If Rockstar Games wanted polished launch-window footage from a creator, he is the kind of channel they'll get in touch with.
Coincidentally, industry insiders like NateTheHate have said Rockstar is expected to send out GTA 6 review copies before the end of October, with reports floating an embargo lift around November 18, the day before launch. None of that is official. Rockstar and Take-Two Interactive have confirmed nothing, but it would give outlets time to play a game this size before verdicts go live.
We previously covered claims that Rockstar wouldn't send GTA 6 review codes to anyone and that the price of reviewing it could be a plane ticket and heavy restrictions. Rockstar locked down access all year. Earlier it only invited a small group of creators for hands-off demos at Rockstar North, where they watched extended gameplay but did not touch the controller.
Shirrako and the GTA 6 review copy talk
Claim | Where it stands |
|---|---|
Shirrako posted a palm tree emoji | Confirmed |
Review copies going out in late October | Reported by insiders, unconfirmed |
An embargo lifting around November 18 | Reported, unconfirmed |
Shirrako has a GTA 6 review copy | Speculation, nothing confirmed |
The only confirmed part is the emoji.
When publishers do seed creators with early builds, they are often very careful. They'll watermark codes to make leaks easier to trace, the embargoes are strict and the list is short. A game this plagued by leaks is the last title Rockstar would hand out loosely. If a creator did make the cut, quietly following the rules would be the condition, not teasing it to millions of followers.
Review copies come with strict NDAs, so a creator who had one would not risk their reputation announcing it, let alone tease it with a wink. A public hint is not how access to these types of games work. Creators willing to break an NDA for fifteen seconds of attention are exactly the ones who end up blacklisted if they even make the list in the first place.
So watch his channel and the insiders if you want, since review copies going out somewhere soon isn't impossible and this creator did post the endings to Red Dead Redemption 2 roughly the same day the game had launched in 2018. As a side rumor, TGG, another GTA insider, has also been claimed to have received one after supposedly avoiding posting his "recently played" screen on X, though that too is unconfirmed.
Just try not to read too much unless otherwise confirmed. GTA 6 isn't too far away anyway. We might as well wait for the official coverage.