GTA San Andreas partial Source leak

AndrewAsd · February 18, 2025

Summary

A user by the name of IAmNotToniCipriani on the GTA Forums has released an unecrypted partial source of GTA SA. It's only a small chunk of the source code but it shows various features that never found their way in the final game like ragdolls, skateboards, oil slicks, online multiplayer and other things. There is some indication that this is source code from 2013 and there are references to touch interfaces pointing to this being a leak from WarDrum Studios (now named Grove Street Games) given the Android port of GTA San Andreas released in December of that year. IAmNotToniCipriani has also previously leaked a Vice City prototype build and beta build of GTA Liberty City Stories. TakeTwo has since issued a DMCA copyright claim and the download is removed 2 days after it released.

Quotes

Quote

After a round of recent hoaxes, parts of GTA San Andreas’ source code has finally leaked. Over the past few weeks and months we’ve seen early builds of various GTA games leak which has been fun but there were other people claiming to have posted the source code for GTA San Andreas. Whilst the GTA V source code leak in the past was real, the recent SA one was not. Until now though the code is not complete.

With the folder being easily accessible, fans were quick to download it and start taking a look. It appears that it is not the entire source code but still plenty enough. This is still a blow to Rockstar Games. Any sort of leak they do not like especially source code. It reveals their secrets and how the games were made. Again, it is important to note this is not the complete source code but rather a fraction of it. Still a big development though!

One of the most fascinating things to come from source code are comments left behind by developers. Employees will leave text to let others working on the game know why they’ve done something or rather what they should not do due to bugs. There are some really funny ones that can be seen in the GTA SA source code. There are plenty of developers voicing their frustration at other devs changing things during development.

Ragdoll physics which were not present in the final release of GTA SA have been found in the source code. It is not entirely functional though as you’d expect. Someone did try running it in GTA SA and well, the result speak for itself. Other cut content and ideas are also referenced in the files.

As for where this source code came from, there are references to Wardrum Studios now known as Grove Street Games. This is the studio that put together the mobile versions of the GTA Trilogy and then the Definitive Edition versions which were highly criticised. Some files also are dated a few months before the original mobile release in late 2013 according to users. Some fans have speculated why this version of source code has leaked.

My thoughts

Since Rockstar Games cut ties with Grove Street Games facing backlash over the poor state that the definitive edition trilogy released in, it makes me wonder if they carry a little of the blame over these leaks or whether it's just purely accidental. It's interesting reading through the leaked code and seeing what rockstar devs wrote, cut out of the game or just random comments left in out of frustration. It's also interesting how TakeTwo hasn't taken down the vice city or LCS beta builds that this person has leaked weeks earlier although it's only a matter of time at this point.

Sources

https://rockstarintel.com/gta-san-andreas-source-code-leaks-in-parts/

https://gtaforums.com/topic/485858-gta-san-andreas-beta-discussion-and-finds/page/28/#findComment-1072506097