'GTA 6' Leaks Take Dire Turn As Hackers Urge Fans To Harass Rockstar IRL

We're nearly a week into the unprecedented Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks, with no sign of the perputrators slowing down. The unusual situation has pushed Rockstar, the developer, into totally new territory. And as Cyberleek, the hackers, continue to evade identification, the group has started to become emboldened by the anonymity and leverage.

Normally, when a leak of a high-profile game occurs, publishers submit DMCA takedown requests to prevent media from continuing to proliferate online. GTA 6 publisher Take-Two has done as much, yet the leaks have persisted. A major reason is the way the hacking group is disseminating information. Cyberleek is hosting the leak site via Arweave, a decentralized protocol that retains information permanently. Data uploaded to Arweave is stored and replicated by miners, similar to how cryptocurrency networks operate. In theory, this means that it is impossible to fully remove the Cyberleek website — provided the hackers paid a one-time charge. The nature of this GTA 6 leak is the first of its kind, so there's no precedent for how to control it.

There's been some confusion around this, as some people attempting to visit the website can only see, "Requested content blocked by this node's content policy. Blocked ID: cyberleek." The website, in this case, hasn't been pulled. It is still accessible via different gateways on the storage network. This is why totally new clips of GTA 6 have surfaced online despite what appears to be a takedown.

Grand Theft Auto 6: Ultimate Edition bonus conten

Image: Rockstar Games

Rockstar and Take-Two haven't sat by idly, however. In addition to last week's subpoenas against Microsoft and Discord in an attempt to uncover the hacking group's identity, the publisher has most recently issued a court order against social media site X to do the same. And though the game proprietors have remained mum publicly, internally, it's a different story. A Bloomberg report claims that leaders at Rockstar are "angry" that the game has suffered a second set of leaks. The game had already suffered a major leak back in 2023, leading the developer to adopt stricter security measures. The new protocols did not help prevent the latest set of leaks. As of yet, the publisher has not determined how the breach occurred. Workers at the company are feeling "frustrated and exhausted," according to Bloomberg.

Since that report came out, things have only worsened. The hacking group changed its Contact page to offer potential ad placements and custom-made gameplay for an undisclosed charge. In addition to holding fan votes on what to release next, Cyberleek has also started monetizing those choices. The recent strip club leak only occurred after fans were able to raise Cyberleek's cryptocurrency to a market cap of $3 million. It seemingly only took hours for the group to raise those millions.

The latest nude town leak goes one step further. In addition to encouraging a fan vote, there is an extra stipulation before Cyberleek will release more footage. "To show support, at least 10 gamers need to show up dressed as leeks in front of Take2/Rock* offices holding game discs during working hours."

The hacking group has asserted that they are motivated by a desire to punish Take-Two and Rockstar for the decision to release GTA 6 without a physical disc. Despite that apparent activist bent, as time has gone on, the hacking group has taken every opportunity to line its own pockets. It remains to be seen if anyone will actually fulfill Cyberleek's demand to mock Rockstar and Take-Two on their own turf, but it's not impossible. Just a few months ago, a YouTuber was arrested after attempting to walk into Rockstar's Edinburgh office.

Polygon has reached out to Rockstar for comment on the escalating situation.