In August, an account called CyberLeek dumped about 14 GTA 6 clips online in a single week. It was the most serious incident since the 2022 hack, and it pushed Rockstar to talk publicly about leaks for the first time in years.
Update, October 11
The group has escalated. According to VGC and the German site WinFuture, CyberLeek now claims to have a working GTA 6 build with the complete story mode, playable through the credits, and threatens to release it publicly. It has set two conditions. The first is financial: the group says it will release the material if the cryptocurrency it promotes reaches a US$30 million market cap; when WinFuture published its report, the coin was about US$26 million short. The second is aimed at Take-Two: the threat would only be dropped with a public apology and a physical disc release of the game, since the announced boxed edition contains only a download code.
None of this has been verified. Neither VGC nor WinFuture confirms that the group actually has the full game, and Rockstar and Take-Two had not responded to the threat when this update was published. VGC reports that Take-Two describes its investigation into the leaker as fast-moving, that it has issued new subpoenas to Discord and that it withdrew its request to YouTube. WinFuture adds a warning that applies to everyone: files advertised as "full GTA 6" have already been used to spread malware, and downloading any supposed leak is risky.
Update, October 8
CyberLeek resurfaced in October. On the 5th, visitors to the site linked to the leaker spotted a mysterious poll made only of question marks, with voting set to close on the 8th. On October 8, a new file appeared, which the leaker named "Extended Leek" as a jab at the official Netflix showcase, with about 25 minutes of video. It is the largest batch of footage since August.
According to VGC, which says it watched the video and considers it apparently authentic, it includes a street race with car customization, an event that resembles a scene from the first trailer, story scenes and a lot of nudity. VGC adds a caveat: a tank shows up in a river with no explanation, which may indicate that whoever captured the build had modified it. In other words, not everything in the footage will necessarily be in the final game. Dexerto notes that nobody has independently verified the material and that it is unclear whether the author is the same person behind the August leaks.
The video ends with a request for money for a game project "unrelated to Rockstar," according to VGC. Rockstar had not commented on the new footage when this update was published. On the legal side, Take-Two's subpoenas now cover Microsoft, Discord, X and YouTube, seeking data that could identify the person responsible.
As a result, the assessment at the end of this article, that the episode had ended in August, no longer holds. The text below has been adjusted.
Editor's note: we do not host, embed or link to the leaked material. We describe its content as a matter of news coverage.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Aug 18–19 | The first clips appear on social media and Discord, signed by CyberLeek. Each clip promoted a cryptocurrency. |
| Aug 19–25 | Leaks continue almost daily. Rockstar responds quietly with takedown requests (DMCA). |
| Aug 26 | Rockstar posts a statement on X: it calls the leaks "heartbreaking," apologizes for the long wait and confirms the footage is legitimate. |
| Aug 27 | "An Extended Look" premieres on Netflix as planned. Reports say the leaker cashed out of the memecoin hours earlier, with an estimated gain of US$250,000. |
| Early Sep | A clip attributed to the game's prologue circulates. Take-Two obtains subpoenas against Microsoft and Discord to trace the source. |
| Oct 5 | A cryptic poll appears on the site linked to CyberLeek, set to close on October 8. |
| Oct 8 | The "Extended Leek" appears, with about 25 minutes of video. Rockstar does not comment. |
| Oct 11 | The group says it has the full game and threatens to release it, demanding physical discs and an apology from Take-Two. Nothing has been verified. |
What leaked
- Combat: third-person shootouts with cover and a camera closer to the character than in GTA V.
- Driving: long stretches of driving through Vice City, including beachfront avenues and residential neighborhoods.
- Minigames and radio: snippets of radio stations and side activities.
- Map: large portions of Vice City and rural areas, which let fans reconstruct parts of the map.
- Nightlife: party and strip club scenes, content Rockstar probably wanted to present at its own pace.
According to the reports, nothing critical to the story leaked. The footage was almost entirely gameplay and open world.
Rockstar's statement
It was the first time the company had commented directly on leaks since the September 2022 hack. The tone stood out: besides confirming the footage was authentic, Rockstar apologized to fans for the development time and acknowledged that the leaks would affect the official showcase the next day.
The company asked players to wait "a little longer" to see the game the right way instead of looking for spoilers.
What is still unconfirmed
- The threat to release the full build "to millions of players" if Rockstar and Take-Two kept up their pursuit. That claim comes from the group itself.
- Stories about a "dead man's switch," an arrest or an inside source. None has been verified.
- Any link to the labor dispute involving 34 former Rockstar employees. No connection has been confirmed.
Why it matters
The 2022 leak did not change GTA 6's release date, and this one does not appear to have changed it either. The difference is that this time Rockstar chose to communicate and stick to its marketing schedule. After a quieter September, the October 8 video showed that the leaker still has material and keeps trying to profit from it. So far, nothing points to a change to the November 19 date.
