GTA 6 Leaks: A Timeline Of The Events So Far
Overview & Key Takeaways
It's been a busy few weeks for Rockstar and Take-Two following a series of leaked GTA 6 gameplay videos and images. Beginning in mid-August 2026, an anonymous individual or group calling itself CyberLeek began publishing unreleased Grand Theft Auto 6 material. The first wave included gameplay videos and apparent images of the GTA 6 map.
The situation is still unfolding, so we've got a roundup of all of the events of the most recent GTA 6 leak in chronological order, along with what the footage appears to show, and CyberLeek's communications so far. Ahead of the footage being posted more widely, several Reddit users believe that infrastructure including the main CyberLeek domain and backup spelling variants were registered as early as August 14. They also claim that a $CYBERLEEK token, liquidity pool, website, and voting program were created around August 15.
August 18
Jason plays basketball
The first clip was around a minute long, and showed protagonist Jason Duval outside the oceanside house that's already been seen in official Rockstar marketing material. It showed off a Focus mechanic, where making a basket increased Jason's Focus level, as shown on the HUD. It's unclear whether this Focus system is present across all of the gameplay, or only in minigames such as basketball. It was initially unclear whether the footage was genuine, but as Rockstar begin issuing DMCA takedown notices, it appeared to verify the legitimacy.
CyberLeek's manifesto
Accompanying the first leak were some "commandments" from CyberLeek, including:
- Thou Shalt Not Sell Digital Preorders
- Thou Shalt Not Sell Fake Single-Player DLC
- Thou Shalt Preserve Single-Player Content
CyberLeek's clearest complaint is around digital preorders. It argues that this doesn't benefit customers since the product is a digital download that cannot sell out. GTA 6 will not be released on a physical disc, despite having physical premium editions available.
Jason's road confrontation
The second clip to surface on August 18, titled Random Video 1, showed Jason driving before becoming involved in an altercation with an NPC. It appeared to show that a wide variety of items can be used as weapons, including a wrench.
So far, CyberLeek has only shown footage of Jason's gameplay.
The map
Also on August 18, CyberLeek published images purporting to show the map of GTA 6's city, Leonida. GTA mapping communities have extensively researched the images and found that numerous details line up with years of reconstructed information from Rockstar's official marketing materials. The map appears to be made up of a series of in-game screenshots stitched together to show the entire open world.
August 19
Taser video
A third video appeared to show Jason breaking into a facility and using a taser, which would be a new type of weapon for the series if it's in the final build. Many theorized this clip could be from 2025 at the earliest, since it featured a track by Tate McRae that was released in January 2025. It shows Jason could be capable of cloning keys or smashing windows when near vehicles. Jason also seems to collect a hat from the ground and put it on. Vehicle-health and fuel-status bars are shown, too.
After a short cut away, Jason and his friend drink beers on a boat while laughing about using a VPN. Quite apt.
Junkies
A fourth video, titled Junkies, showed Jason kicking a police officer off a motorcycle before stabbing him and driving away on it. It showed a potential wanted level of six stars, something that didn't feature in GTA 5. He then approached a community living underneath a bridge, and as Jason's wanted level increased, a warning appeared on the UI stating that the cops are looking for him and have his description.
It also showed the use of something called Zombix, which will apparently have a weaker effect on your health the more you use it. Bystanders also seem to have the ability to report your crimes.
Stop Killing Games distances itself
Stop Killing Games--an international consumer campaign that hopes publishers will keep purchased games in a playable state after official support ends--has distanced itself from CyberLeek and its tactics. "Using illegal means to make a point is unacceptable to us," it said.
https://twitter.com/StopKilingGames/status/2089892615923622375?s=20
It also urged people to not buy the CyberLeek memecoin. "Do not send these people your money, no matter how much sympathy you may feel for their actions," it explained.
The polls begin
CyberLeek has a memecoin called $CYBERLEEK that appears on all of the watermarked footage. This cryptocurrency's value depends on internet speculation or attention, and CyberLeek said that its token would fund a "secret project." There's been no word so far on what that secret project might be.
As an incentive for people to purchase the token, CyberLeek began running polls for users to decide on the footage they wanted to view next. Whichever poll option had the most tokens purchased against it would be the next released footage. One poll asked users to choose between a car during the day, a car at night, a motorcycle at night, or a plane during the day. The plane won, with 64.4% of the total, leading to the release of the plane video.
August 20
Extended gameplay
This video was the one that really got people talking, as some theorized that the leaker may have access to a playable build of the game. As Jason flew over the city in a plane, it showed the density of the environment, and added new locations. A few radio stations are scrolled through, giving a better idea of what the GTA 6 soundtrack could sound like. However, the most important moment was when the character apparently was directly controlled and used gunfire to spell "Leek" on a nearby wall.
Ending threats
At the same time, CyberLeek threatened to release further material, including potential story and ending spoilers, unless Rockstar and other publishers change their approach to digital games. Some of the videos feature watermarked threats such as, "No physical discs? Then more leeks!"
August 21
Subpoenas
Rockstar parent company Take-Two filed multiple subpoenas requesting that Microsoft and Discord assist it in discovering CyberLeek's identity by providing information on its users. One subpoena filed with the Southern District Court of New York on August 20 showed that it was issuing DMCA takedown notices in order to "obtain the identity of an alleged infringer or infringers," adding that the information would only be used to protect Take-Two's rights.
Take-Two has asked Microsoft and Discord to come up with the internal records before September 4, asking for information including Discord account IDs, registration emails, IP addresses, linked connections, and more.
According to Discord itself, as of the afternoon of August 24, the company has not yet been served with a subpoena.
Seeking advertisers
A new "Contact" tab appeared on the CyberLeek website on August 21 that stated that the individual or group responsible is looking for funds "through community support and strategic partnerships" by selling ad space on its forthcoming leaks. It stressed that this is not a "ransom," though, so that's okay. It'll set those interested back a 400 XMR (Monero) fee, which currently converts to just shy of $165,450. And that's just the fee to contact those responsible.
First hypercar video
The next video to surface is the first hypercar video, which shows Jason driving through the streets in the Truffade Thrax--a car that's currently in GTA Online--performing burnouts and taking part in some pretty irresponsible driving. As far as content goes, it's one of the more uneventful leaked videos, but it does give a good idea of how the city could look at sunset.
August 22
Strip club teaser
This video began with Jason driving the same hypercar as the previous video, with smoke coming from the tires and engine. He then pulled into a gas station, refueled the car, and ran into the shop. Jason appeared to punch the shopkeeper and steal some cash. He then robbed another gas station before crashing into a barrier and damaging the car significantly. Afterwards, Jason is seen approaching a strip club and walking in. The video's watermarked message reads, "3mil marketcap = stripclub." It was interpreted that this meant if the $CYBERLEEK coin hit a market cap of 3 million, the full strip club video would be released.
The leaks just keep on coming.
Strip club
As teased earlier on, the next video to leak showed a strip club with Easy Rider branding, which could be the name of the establishment. It's got all of the behavior you'd expect from such a place, including large warnings to not "come on to the dancers." There are plenty of neon lights, NPCs, more leaked soundtrack titles, and Jason even uses some binoculars to get a better look at the dancers. At the end of the clip, a cutscene inside a men's bathroom is shown and Jason interacts with another NPC.
August 23
Wasted
Another day, another leaked video. This time, Jason drove a car to the gas station. It appears to be Jason's personal vehicle--the Vapid Ganado. An NPC is spilling fuel on the floor while talking to themselves until Jason steals his truck and drives off, running him over as he goes. As he drives off, Jason crashes into another vehicle and both of them explode. Here, we see what appears to be the GTA 6 "Wasted" screen as Jason dies.
After a short cut, the video returns to yesterday's leaked footage of Jason in the urinals and a quest prompt telling him to return to Lucia. This is the first time Lucia has been mentioned in the leaked footage.
Fake GTA 6 downloads
There are multiple copies of an apparent 113GB GTA 6 file circulating around the internet, but it appears to be padded malware. According to Tom's Hardware, testers say the file is 99.99% empty zeroes, with the remaining space taken up by a 50KB virus. Apparently, downloading and opening that file will whitelist your entire C:\ drive in Windows Defender and kill all of your security software. Probably don't touch that, then.
August 24
Yet more nudity
A new clip showing leaked GTA 6 footage found its way online on August 24, showing a nudist colony in Leonida. Jason's walking around near a pool and several hot tubs while dozens of naked people dance nearby. While some of them don't seem bothered by his presence, after he looks at a woman with binoculars, she physically attacks him. The leak shows the most detailed nudity I've ever seen in a game before, which is equal parts impressive and alarming.
The most notable detail though, if you can draw your eyes away from all the genitalia, is the watermark. "Do you want a Lucia-led prologue? CL has been evading spoilers," it reads. CyberLeek has put up another poll, and asked gamers to show up dressed as leeks in front of the Take-Two and Rockstar offices while holding physical game discs.
As the leaks continue--with more threats being made, and Take-Two seemingly not much closer to identifying CyberLeek--if you're trying to avoid spoilers, you should consider adding filters to your social-media feeds to remove any mentions of GTA or CyberLeek. As this story continues to develop, we'll update the timeline with new events.
It’s been a busy few weeks for Rockstar and Take-Two following a series of leaked GTA 6 gameplay videos and images. Beginning in mid-August 2026, an anonymous individual or group calling itself CyberLeek began publishing unreleased Grand Theft Auto 6 material. The first wave included gameplay videos and apparent images of the GTA 6 map.
The situation is still unfolding, so we’ve got a roundup of all of the events of the most recent GTA 6 leak in chronological order, along with what the footage appears to show, and CyberLeek’s communications so far. Ahead of the footage being posted more widely, several Reddit users believe that infrastructure including the main CyberLeek domain and backup spelling variants were registered as early as August 14. They also claim that a $CYBERLEEK token, liquidity pool, website, and voting program were created around August 15.
August 18
Jason plays basketball
The first clip was around a minute long, and showed protagonist Jason Duval outside the oceanside house that’s already been seen in official Rockstar marketing material. It showed off a Focus mechanic, where making a basket increased Jason’s Focus level, as shown on the HUD. It’s unclear whether this Focus system is present across all of the gameplay, or only in minigames such as basketball. It was initially unclear whether the footage was genuine, but as Rockstar begin issuing DMCA takedown notices, it appeared to verify the legitimacy.
CyberLeek’s manifesto
Accompanying the first leak were some “commandments” from CyberLeek, including:
- Thou Shalt Not Sell Digital Preorders
- Thou Shalt Not Sell Fake Single-Player DLC
- Thou Shalt Preserve Single-Player Content
CyberLeek’s clearest complaint is around digital preorders. It argues that this doesn’t benefit customers since the product is a digital download that cannot sell out. GTA 6 will not be released on a physical disc, despite having physical premium editions available.
Jason’s road confrontation
The second clip to surface on August 18, titled Random Video 1, showed Jason driving before becoming involved in an altercation with an NPC. It appeared to show that a wide variety of items can be used as weapons, including a wrench.
So far, CyberLeek has only shown footage of Jason’s gameplay.
The map
Also on August 18, CyberLeek published images purporting to show the map of GTA 6’s city, Leonida. GTA mapping communities have extensively researched the images and found that numerous details line up with years of reconstructed information from Rockstar’s official marketing materials. The map appears to be made up of a series of in-game screenshots stitched together to show the entire open world.
August 19
Taser video
A third video appeared to show Jason breaking into a facility and using a taser, which would be a new type of weapon for the series if it’s in the final build. Many theorized this clip could be from 2025 at the earliest, since it featured a track by Tate McRae that was released in January 2025. It shows Jason could be capable of cloning keys or smashing windows when near vehicles. Jason also seems to collect a hat from the ground and put it on. Vehicle-health and fuel-status bars are shown, too.
After a short cut away, Jason and his friend drink beers on a boat while laughing about using a VPN. Quite apt.
Junkies
A fourth video, titled Junkies, showed Jason kicking a police officer off a motorcycle before stabbing him and driving away on it. It showed a potential wanted level of six stars, something that didn’t feature in GTA 5. He then approached a community living underneath a bridge, and as Jason’s wanted level increased, a warning appeared on the UI stating that the cops are looking for him and have his description.
It also showed the use of something called Zombix, which will apparently have a weaker effect on your health the more you use it. Bystanders also seem to have the ability to report your crimes.
Stop Killing Games distances itself
Stop Killing Games–an international consumer campaign that hopes publishers will keep purchased games in a playable state after official support ends–has distanced itself from CyberLeek and its tactics. “Using illegal means to make a point is unacceptable to us,” it said.
It also urged people to not buy the CyberLeek memecoin. “Do not send these people your money, no matter how much sympathy you may feel for their actions,” it explained.
The polls begin
CyberLeek has a memecoin called $CYBERLEEK that appears on all of the watermarked footage. This cryptocurrency’s value depends on internet speculation or attention, and CyberLeek said that its token would fund a “secret project.” There’s been no word so far on what that secret project might be.
As an incentive for people to purchase the token, CyberLeek began running polls for users to decide on the footage they wanted to view next. Whichever poll option had the most tokens purchased against it would be the next released footage. One poll asked users to choose between a car during the day, a car at night, a motorcycle at night, or a plane during the day. The plane won, with 64.4% of the total, leading to the release of the plane video.
August 20
Extended gameplay
This video was the one that really got people talking, as some theorized that the leaker may have access to a playable build of the game. As Jason flew over the city in a plane, it showed the density of the environment, and added new locations. A few radio stations are scrolled through, giving a better idea of what the GTA 6 soundtrack could sound like. However, the most important moment was when the character apparently was directly controlled and used gunfire to spell “Leek” on a nearby wall.
Ending threats
At the same time, CyberLeek threatened to release further material, including potential story and ending spoilers, unless Rockstar and other publishers change their approach to digital games. Some of the videos feature watermarked threats such as, “No physical discs? Then more leeks!”
August 21
Subpoenas
Rockstar parent company Take-Two filed multiple subpoenas requesting that Microsoft and Discord assist it in discovering CyberLeek’s identity by providing information on its users. One subpoena filed with the Southern District Court of New York on August 20 showed that it was issuing DMCA takedown notices in order to “obtain the identity of an alleged infringer or infringers,” adding that the information would only be used to protect Take-Two’s rights.
Take-Two has asked Microsoft and Discord to come up with the internal records before September 4, asking for information including Discord account IDs, registration emails, IP addresses, linked connections, and more.
According to Discord itself, as of the afternoon of August 24, the company has not yet been served with a subpoena.
Seeking advertisers
A new “Contact” tab appeared on the CyberLeek website on August 21 that stated that the individual or group responsible is looking for funds “through community support and strategic partnerships” by selling ad space on its forthcoming leaks. It stressed that this is not a “ransom,” though, so that’s okay. It’ll set those interested back a 400 XMR (Monero) fee, which currently converts to just shy of $165,450. And that’s just the fee to contact those responsible.
First hypercar video
The next video to surface is the first hypercar video, which shows Jason driving through the streets in the Truffade Thrax–a car that’s currently in GTA Online–performing burnouts and taking part in some pretty irresponsible driving. As far as content goes, it’s one of the more uneventful leaked videos, but it does give a good idea of how the city could look at sunset.
August 22
Strip club teaser
This video began with Jason driving the same hypercar as the previous video, with smoke coming from the tires and engine. He then pulled into a gas station, refueled the car, and ran into the shop. Jason appeared to punch the shopkeeper and steal some cash. He then robbed another gas station before crashing into a barrier and damaging the car significantly. Afterwards, Jason is seen approaching a strip club and walking in. The video’s watermarked message reads, “3mil marketcap = stripclub.” It was interpreted that this meant if the $CYBERLEEK coin hit a market cap of 3 million, the full strip club video would be released.
The leaks just keep on coming.
Strip club
As teased earlier on, the next video to leak showed a strip club with Easy Rider branding, which could be the name of the establishment. It’s got all of the behavior you’d expect from such a place, including large warnings to not “come on to the dancers.” There are plenty of neon lights, NPCs, more leaked soundtrack titles, and Jason even uses some binoculars to get a better look at the dancers. At the end of the clip, a cutscene inside a men’s bathroom is shown and Jason interacts with another NPC.
August 23
Wasted
Another day, another leaked video. This time, Jason drove a car to the gas station. It appears to be Jason’s personal vehicle–the Vapid Ganado. An NPC is spilling fuel on the floor while talking to themselves until Jason steals his truck and drives off, running him over as he goes. As he drives off, Jason crashes into another vehicle and both of them explode. Here, we see what appears to be the GTA 6 “Wasted” screen as Jason dies.
After a short cut, the video returns to yesterday’s leaked footage of Jason in the urinals and a quest prompt telling him to return to Lucia. This is the first time Lucia has been mentioned in the leaked footage.
Fake GTA 6 downloads
There are multiple copies of an apparent 113GB GTA 6 file circulating around the internet, but it appears to be padded malware. According to Tom’s Hardware, testers say the file is 99.99% empty zeroes, with the remaining space taken up by a 50KB virus. Apparently, downloading and opening that file will whitelist your entire C:\ drive in Windows Defender and kill all of your security software. Probably don’t touch that, then.
August 24
Yet more nudity
A new clip showing leaked GTA 6 footage found its way online on August 24, showing a nudist colony in Leonida. Jason’s walking around near a pool and several hot tubs while dozens of naked people dance nearby. While some of them don’t seem bothered by his presence, after he looks at a woman with binoculars, she physically attacks him. The leak shows the most detailed nudity I’ve ever seen in a game before, which is equal parts impressive and alarming.
The most notable detail though, if you can draw your eyes away from all the genitalia, is the watermark. “Do you want a Lucia-led prologue? CL has been evading spoilers,” it reads. CyberLeek has put up another poll, and asked gamers to show up dressed as leeks in front of the Take-Two and Rockstar offices while holding physical game discs.
As the leaks continue–with more threats being made, and Take-Two seemingly not much closer to identifying CyberLeek–if you’re trying to avoid spoilers, you should consider adding filters to your social-media feeds to remove any mentions of GTA or CyberLeek. As this story continues to develop, we’ll update the timeline with new events.
