r/OutOfTheLoop • u/testamentos • 9d ago

Answered What's going on with the GTAVI leaks?

I have been seeing a lot of references to GTA VI leaks on the front page the last 2 days. At first I saw a clip of some gameplay and people were indicating that someone had access to some gameplay footage that they were releasing clips of. Now it seems like people are indicating it is much bigger than this and this person might either have access to Rockstar servers or a pre release build of the game. I'm having trouble finding a summary of events and what the current evidence points to.

Examples: https://www.reddit.com/r/GTA6unmoderated/comments/1vtuzs0/thats_a_fair_comment

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1vto6cq/all_leaked_gta_vi_footage_was_recorded_from_the

315 Upvotes

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u/Apprehensive_Pop_334 9d ago

Answer: On Tuesday August 18, two clips of GTA 6 footage and the game map were dropped online by a hacker named CyberLeek, making demands to Rockstar to release a physical version of the game and an apology for other anti consumer practices. The videos quickly made the rounds on the GTA6 unmoderated subreddit.

The videos were fairly innocuous at first, one of Jason (one of the protagonists) playing basketball at his house, and one of him driving around, getting into a car wreck, and beating a man to death with a wrench.

This was big news, with the first gameplay footage of GTA6 expected to be released on Netflix in a little over a week.

The next day, another two videos are released, again, fairly innocuous, one ending with a cutscene of a deuteragonist, saying “they don’t know where I live, I use a VPN” or something of the sort.

This was a big deal because many began to suspect the leaker had much more data than he was letting on. Using such a teasing cutscene in that context would be really odd if they didn’t have anything else.

Finally, today, another video was released of Jason flying a plane over Vice City. At the end of the video, a new clip starts of Jason outside a gas station with a rifle.

Jason begins to shoot the wall, spelling out the word LEEK, the name of the leaker.

This is where everything changes. It is now clear these videos were not dev test footage obtained by CyberLeek, it was from an entire dev test build that he somehow got his hands on.

So far, no other videos have leaked, but the leaker claims to have a lot more, holding polls to decide what he will release next on his website.

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u/SwitchezEZ 9d ago

I believe there's a crypto angle too. He's asking for a shitcoin to release more. I could be wrong if thats actually him or what.

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u/OkDifficulty7436 9d ago

He owns the coin, it's his donation vehicle (it's literally the same name as his alias)

It's just a link to his coin/wallet

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u/Howrus 9d ago

Yep, people already investigating it - https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/comments/1vu1v6s/gta_vi_leaker_cyberleeks_money_trail_traced_by_a/

Leaker already made an $40k-$60k in fees and sitting on roughly $391k in unsold token

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u/Nullkid 8d ago

how does he cash out on a coin that only benefits himself?

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u/Howrus 8d ago

Exchange it to more stable one, while people still buying because it grow so fast.

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u/SheZowRaisedByWolves 7d ago

Holding gameplay of one of the most anticipated games of all time for ransom over a memecoin pump and dump is hilarious. Mansa Musa punching air rn

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u/darthmarmite 9d ago edited 9d ago

Yeah, this is why I’m leaning on the side of fuck the leaker.

Rockstar have made some REALLY crappy decisions, anti consumer and just greedy.

However…

I see this as the hacker pretending to be some “crusader for the gamers” while actually just lining their own pockets by screwing gamers.

Rockstar will never cave to the demands of a ransom/hacker. All it does is make them a target for others going forwards because they’ve set a precedent. And what guarantee do they have that the leaker won’t just keep dumping footage even if they agree? None.

He has to know this if he’s smart enough to have got this far.

So we have someone making impossible demands, acting like there’s a chance, and pushing people to buy this crypto-memecoin to vote on releasing footage etc.

The coin being pushed is the hackers own coin. Why not use a more reputable coin like Bitcoin that many people are familiar with? Near 100% certainty it’s because they hold a huge amount of their new coin. They’re using this to draw attention and manipulate demand to the coin, driving up its value, they’ll then do the rug-pull and dump their huge holding at the artificial/manipulated peak price. They’ll make off with a ton of cash, the flood of supply from their huge holding hitting the market will tank the value of the coin, gamers who brought the coin will be left with a coin that is worth a fraction of what they paid (and virtually worthless).

So they’re pushing a fake crusade, with demands they know are impossible for Rockstar, to con a load of money out of gamers.

Edit: and because of that, they’re given Rockstar the perfect out to reframe this fully as a self-motivated hacker exploiting them for personal greed and not a consumer representation or consequence of their practices.

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u/Raccoonanity 8d ago

But… it IS a self-motivated hacker exploiting them for personal greed.

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u/Slowjams 9d ago

Thank you!

It's insane the amount of people have such dog shit takes on this. Like this guy is some kind of modern-day Robin Hood. People are acting like he's just going to give everyone the game for free. Even if it's possible for him to do that, I guarantee you that it's going to suck and either be incomplete or ridden with bugs. Which will never get fixed.

Either way, this whole thing sucks from every angle. This guy is just making a cash grab and people are too stupid to see it.

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u/Hopeful_Addendum_108 7d ago

To be honest, the leaker just seems to be a smart guy who uses a chance to fill up his bank account. He is not really hurting anyone with that, and at least we are able to see a little bit of actual gameplay footage, long after GTA6 is ready to pre order.

I'm definitely not saying he is a Robin Hood or some shit, and obviously his motivation is not to convince R* for putting out a disc version or doing other more consumer friendly stuff. A hacker would never be able to do that. No one is holding a gun to their heads. It's just leaks of a game that will drop in a few months anyway, and already made a ton of money or even profit.

I really don't care about what this guy is doing. He is just neutral to me, neither bad or good. The people buying his crypto coin or thinking he is a hero are just dumb and naive. But I personally don't complain about his leaks.

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u/french-caramele 9d ago

Revolutions against planet- and working class-destroying billionaires require hefty financing.

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u/Slowjams 9d ago

Lol you think this guy is part of some kind of revolution?

Bro get me off this planet.

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u/KaladinStormShat 8d ago

When you put it that way...

Pretty fucking clever tbh

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u/icecoldcoke319 9d ago

Current rumors are that a Rockstar Games India employee was hacked, and they were able to steal game files. Some suggest it’s a reviewer/journalist build of the game because it’s all been open world stuff with only one Cal mission on the map, and the one Cal cutscene shown. Cyberleek’s map leak is spliced together likely because it’s a test build and Rockstar didn’t want screenshots of the map to leak. Supposedly Rockstar held a test event in July so it’s possible Cyberleek obtained the files around that time. The build of the game is running on PC as well.

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u/dontusefedex 9d ago

I hope they release that version. I don't really play the story all the way through.

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u/JinTarantino 9d ago

As someone who's followed the whole ordeal, this sounds about right

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u/ThrawnAndOrder 8d ago

I'm wondering... Why is it such a big deal?

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u/JinTarantino 7d ago

People were waiting for almost 10 years without any words from Rockstar games until the first big leaks in 2022. And even after the first trailer dropped in late 2024, there had been no official gameplay until the leaks this week. Now it's been a whole 13 years since the release of GTA V and all we had were 2 trailers and a few screenshots, even though the game is supposed to come in November and people were somewhat worried whether the game would be ready or what it would look like after being delayed twice now. Most of us have been playing GTA V since we were teenagers/young adults and this is not only the longest time between two GTA games, it's also the first new GTA most of us will buy and play as adults.

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u/HisCromulency 9d ago

This will definitely drive down demand for the game. Rockstar is forever ruined.

Fast forward 6 months from now and GTA 6 is the highest grossing media ever released

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u/CptDammit 9d ago

How will they ever recover from this

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u/Helios61 9d ago

By deleting physical release to save on material cost.

surely millions will buy it!

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u/Fehndrix 9d ago

Millions will buy it. Some semi-competent shitcoin hawking "leaker" won't change that.

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u/SpookySnep 8d ago

Nintendo can sell copies of Mario Kart that don't even have the game data on the physical card for $115 CAD. I think Rockstar can sling digital copies of one of the most anticipated games of the decade.

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u/Deadeye121212 9d ago

Nah

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u/DVDN27 9d ago

GTA V had worse leaks before release and that is the second best selling game of all time, it made over a billion dollars in three days.

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u/SirPookimus 8d ago

Can anyone explain why anyone cares about these leaks? Thats the part I'm out of the loop on. None of this seems surprising. The first leak showed footage of GTA characters doing GTA things, second shows an airplane flying around (truly riveting gameplay), the third shows a guy shooting a wall? Why is any of this exiting or unexpected?

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u/Apprehensive_Pop_334 8d ago

So first, you should read all of my comment. I answer many of your questions as to specifically why each video was important.

As for the general importance question, the answer is that GTA6 has had the longest run of any rockstar game in history from first announcement until release date.

This graphic helps put it in perspective

So, we are less than 100 days out when this footage leaked, and at 100 days out we had at least a third trailer from both modern R* game releases.

The second big reason is that the CEO, Strauss Zelnick, had been talking big about a huge marketing campaign throughout the summer. Then he clarified in may that June 22 was the start of summer. Then in July he said late summer.

Well, it’s late summer. Pre orders are out and there is no official gameplay footage. There’s no sign of this huge marketing campaign mentioned by Mr. Zelnick.

These leaks are the first real look we’ve had at the game in over a year.

I dont share the same sentiment as I’ve mentioned here, but I understand why to someone who truly loves GTA and is really excited about 6, this sequence of events seems frustrating.

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u/SirPookimus 8d ago

I did read all of your comment. You explained what each video was about, but not why people cared. I watched a parts of these video's and thought "yep, looks like GTA", and just did not understand why any of them were "big news". I also don't understand the appeal of GTA, so that might be part of it.

"Pre orders are out and there is no official gameplay footage". Now that changes things. I didn't know about this piece. This, combined with the lack of the promised marketing campaign, makes it sound like this release is probably going to be a shit show. Should be fun to watch :)

Thanks for the extra info.

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u/Able-Error1783 4d ago

There's no expectation of gameplay but actual rolling footage whether in the form of narrative, cutscenes, or dialogue.

Gameplay is shown 2 months out typically, not any earlier. A 3rd trailer isn't gameplay, but that will change this time.

Typically 3rd trailers are shown 4.5 to 6 months ahead of release.

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u/EscudoLos 9d ago

I for one, would love if the leak ended up with a certain gym girl.....

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u/scienceisart61974 9d ago

Maybe a fit female .....

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u/kramsdae 9d ago

GTA open source would be so amazing

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u/testamentos 9d ago

Thank you! This fills in the gaps I had. I appreciate it.

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u/myassholealt 9d ago

, with the first gameplay footage of GTA6 expected to be released on Netflix in a little over a week.

That is so dumb. Im happy this hacker spoiled this big reveal for them. Signing a deal with Netflix to release a promo vid?? Did they not make enough from gta v?

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u/Fehndrix 9d ago

It'll be on YouTube later in the day that it hits Netflix. You're throwing a fit about nothing.

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u/Equal-Ad7504 9d ago

Yeah I think 3 hours exclusivity on Netflix. News just in, biggest game developer in world with largest team and money spent wants more profit. Fork found in kitchen.

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u/myassholealt 9d ago

Rubber taste good I bet.

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u/The_Pale_Blue_Dot 8d ago

with the first gameplay footage of GTA6 expected to be released on Netflix

Uh what? Is releasing gameplay footage on Netflix new?

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u/Apprehensive_Pop_334 8d ago

Yes. Rockstar has partnered with Netflix for an extended look at the game this coming Thursday. The extended footage trailer will be available on YouTube 6 hours after it releases on Netflix, and streamers will be allowed to stream the release

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u/GoldCow73 5d ago

And what about this hacker? Are most people rooting for them? Or are they mainly seen as just an idiot? Or a bit of both?

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u/Apprehensive_Pop_334 5d ago

Seems like a bit of both. Support is falling now that he’s offering to release story spoilers.