Rockstar Games Rumored to Be Caught in a Scandal Before GTA 6 Even Arrives

It has been a very rough start for Rockstar Games in 2026, one that neither fans nor investors could have seen coming. The company is dealing with a lot of problems, rumors, and financial shocks in January, and Grand Theft Auto 6 hasn't even come out with new information yet. This has made January feel less like a warm-up and more like a crisis.

It's already been a rough month. Rockstar is currently facing a lawsuit from former GTA 6 developers. This case has brought up uncomfortable questions about how the company is managed and how workers are treated. Even worse, there was a sudden boiler explosion and fire at Rockstar North's main office, which caused a lot of panic online. The company said that no one was hurt, but quickly reports spread that GTA 6 might not come out in stores for a long time.

Concerns like those would have been enough to make the news. Instead, something much more explosive quickly took center stage: new documents from the US Department of Justice about Epstein that included references to current and past Rockstar executives.

The files, which have sparked new investigations around the world, include references to people with ties to Rockstar Games, such as Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive, and Sam Houser. It's important to note that these papers are not court decisions or proofs of crime. They are groups of emails and claims that have not been proven and are not backed up by court decisions. Still, the fact that they exist has put Rockstar in an awkward position.

Unverified claims from Epstein Files take over the internet.

On page 38 of the public documents, a woman named Sarah Ransome makes a number of claims about her connection with Leslie Benzies, a former executive at Rockstar North, in the early 2000s. In the paper, Ransome says she met a number of Rockstars through Benzies, including Sam Houser, and makes disturbing claims about wrongdoing.

The document's language is rough, broken up, and highly redacted, but it accuses Benzies of sexual assault and suggests that other people close to Rockstar knew about the bad behavior. The document tells detectives very clearly to "check bank records" and says that trips and meetings were made possible with money.

Again, it's important to stress that these are just accusations found in papers and not proven facts. Also, there is no proof that these people are directly connected to Jeffrey Epstein. However, the fact that these names are in the files has led to a lot of debate and anger online. Just how people see Rockstar can be bad for them, especially when it comes to a story of this size.

When the focus turned to Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar's parent business, the controversy got even worse. In separate files, there is a "connection web" that lists Epstein's close friends, acquaintances, and people who connect him to other people in his larger social network. Strauss Zelnick, CEO and head of Take-Two Interactive, is shown in this diagram as a "close friend."

It's still not clear what these titles really mean. The papers don't say what the criteria are for each group, and they don't prove that anything wrong was done. Still, the picture itself has been enough to scare investors and start new conversations about who is responsible at the top level.

As a result, more and more people are wondering if Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive will officially answer.

In the past, Rockstar has kept quiet during problems because it wanted its games to do the talking. Take-Two might not be able to do that this time, though. The earnings call for the company is set for February 3 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, and now analysts are paying close attention to see if execs talk about the Epstein file or try to change the subject.

Take-Two Interactive's stock price dropped by about 10% in one day, which made things even worse.  The drop is one of the biggest for the company since GTA 6 was pushed back in November 2025. This time, though, it wasn't Rockstar that was to blame—it was AI. When Google showed off a new AI model called Genie 3, it made investors very nervous. 

Genie 3 lets users create and explore playable 3D environments in real time by following simple text directions.

Early footage has been called rough and lacking in artistic depth, but the implications were big enough to make people in the game industry lose faith.  It wasn't just Take-Two that had a bad time. As worries spread that AI could one day mess up the way games are made, stocks for Roblox, CD Projekt Red, and Unity all took big drops.

This story has been pushed back against by many developers and fans. People who say that AI-generated worlds don't have the level of detail, story complexity, and creative purpose that studios like Rockstar are known for. Fear moves markets faster than facts, though, and the damage was already done. 

As the pressure builds from all sides, rumors are building that Rockstar might have to break its silence, but not with words, but with a show. Before Take-Two's earnings call, a third GTA 6 trailer, pre-orders, or a big website update could change the conversation right away and boost confidence.

Even though January isn't over yet, Rockstar Games is already having one of the worst starts to a year in its history.

It's the worst possible time for accusations, accidents, investor fear, and technological problems to all happen at once. We still don't know if Rockstar will ignore the noise, deal with it directly, or drown it out with long-awaited GTA 6 news. One thing is for sure: the next few days could make or break the company's finances and public image as it gets ready to release the most anticipated game of the decade.