The biggest reason this story has spread so quickly is who made the statement. Clancy runs Twitch, a platform with an enormous interest in GTA 6 because Rockstar’s games routinely become major streaming events. More importantly, he connected his comments directly to conversations between Twitch and Rockstar about the studio’s plans and creator engagement.

That doesn’t mean Twitch was handed a confidential Rockstar release calendar. It also doesn’t mean Clancy was officially announcing the next GTA Online. But it does make his comment more notable than another prediction from someone watching the same trailers and leaks as everybody else.

There’s also a useful detail in the wording. Clancy described another major surge in attention when multiplayer launches, rather than saying that multiplayer is something Rockstar may eventually consider. That makes the statement sound like Clancy expects it to happen, even though Rockstar itself has not publicly backed up the timing.