How we publish
Sourcing, fact-checking, leak handling, AI usage, and disclosure standards. Public and unchanging unless we change them in public.
1. Sourcing standards
Every factual claim on Vice Atlas is sourced. We treat sources in a three-tier hierarchy:
- Tier 1 — confirmed. Stated by Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive, or visible on-screen in an official Rockstar trailer or Newswire post. Only Tier 1 information is ever labeled confirmed in our writing.
- Tier 2 — leaked. Material from a documented leak (e.g., the September 2022 GTA VI development footage). We cover leaks editorially, but we never republish leaked copyrighted footage and we always label leaked material as such — never as confirmed.
- Tier 3 — rumor / fan attribution. Casting speculation, voice-actor attributions sourced to LinkedIn or social-media patterns, fan-decoded easter eggs. We will discuss these but never as fact, and always with the explicit note that the source is unverified.
2. Speculation vs. reporting
When a story warrants editorial speculation — about Rockstar's marketing rhythm, Take-Two's likely launch sequencing, or what a particular trailer beat might foreshadow — speculation is clearly framed in its own section, separated from the confirmed-facts section, and written in our own voice rather than attributed to anonymous "sources said."
We do not run unsourced "sources tell us" reporting. If we cannot name a source or point to a verifiable artifact, we do not publish the claim as fact.
3. Leak handling
Leaks are part of the GTA VI news cycle. We cover them editorially — analyzing what they imply, what they confirm, what they don't — but we operate within these limits:
- No leaked footage embeds. We do not embed, host, or link to leaked development footage. Citations to leak archives are limited to clearly-attributed text descriptions.
- No leaked source code or assets. Same standard.
- No attribution that endangers leakers. We do not name individuals connected to leaks beyond what is already public in mainstream press.
- Removal on takedown. If Rockstar Games or Take-Two issues a DMCA takedown for any specific leak-derived content, we comply and document the removal in a public corrections log.
4. AI usage
We use AI tools for research, outlining, fact-cross-referencing, and copy editing. We do not publish AI-generated articles as original analysis. Specifically:
- Allowed: AI-assisted research summaries (verified against primary sources before use), outline generation (rewritten in human voice before publishing), grammar and style checks, alt-text generation, schema markup generation.
- Not allowed: AI-generated final copy passed off as human-written; AI-generated factual claims unverified against primary sources; AI-generated images presented as original photography or screenshots; AI-generated "quotes" attributed to real people.
Every published article is written by a human author who is named on the byline and accountable for every word, regardless of which tools assisted the drafting process.
5. Attribution and plagiarism
We credit every source we materially relied on, by name and link, in the article body or in a Sources section. If another publication broke a story and we are following with our own analysis, we link to and credit them — even when we add new reporting or analysis on top.
We do not republish other publications' original reporting without explicit attribution and a link to the original. We do not paraphrase other writers' analysis closely enough that an attentive reader could reasonably mistake it for our own.
6. Conflicts of interest and disclosure
We have no advertising relationships with Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive, any GTA-adjacent publisher, or any party with a material interest in our editorial coverage. We accept no review embargoes, no exclusive access in exchange for favorable coverage, and no sponsored editorial.
If any of these change, the relationship will be disclosed at the top of every relevant article and on the relevant directory pages.
Affiliate links to gaming peripherals (controllers, headsets, chairs, monitors) are clearly labeled inline using a standardized disclosure phrase. Affiliate links never appear in news coverage — only in dedicated buying guides where the relationship is the point of the article.
7. Corrections
When we make a factual error, we correct it publicly and we document the correction. We do not silently edit published claims. Full process documented in the corrections policy.
8. Updates to this policy
This page is the canonical statement of how Vice Atlas operates editorially. When the policy changes, the change is documented with a dated note on this page rather than rewritten in place.
Last reviewed: 2026-05-04. Questions about this policy: email hello@viceatlas.com.