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Vigilante or Crypto Scammer? A New GTA 6 Leaker Emerges

The mysterious culprit behind the new Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks has been releasing more footage of the upcoming game while encouraging the public to donate to their own meme coin.

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When he's not battling bugs and robots in Helldivers 2, Michael is reporting on AI, satellites, cybersecurity, PCs, and tech policy.
August 19, 2026
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A mysterious group is leaking new footage of Grand Theft Auto 6 ahead of its official release, suggesting a copy of the game might have been stolen. 

The group behind the leaks, called “CyberLeek,” made waves on Tuesday after it began posting images and then in-game clips allegedly taken from GTA 6. The footage not only looks authentic, but it appears GTA 6’s developer, Rockstar Games, has been taking action by filing copyright infringement notices, forcing social media platforms to remove the videos. 

The footage also stands out because it isn't dressed up like a flashy video game trailer. Instead, the clips seem to feature actual gameplay of someone trying GTA 6. For example, one video shows the player controlling the main character by driving a car on a highway, crashing into a delivery truck, and then beating up the delivery truck's driver, only for the police to arrive.

CyberLeek has continued to post new footage all the while trying to justify the leaks. On a website, CyberLeek has accused Rockstar of focusing on profit over game development when GTA 6 preorders can reach as high as $99. “They kill games and keep the money. Every year anti-consumerism tightens its grip, and every year gamers get less for what they pay,” the group wrote. 

The group has even published manifesto, demanding game publishers forbid themselves from offering digital preorders or selling access to single-player content already present in the base game files. The manifesto also says “any game featuring single-player content must include an offline fallback state,” when server support ends. If publishers violate any of the three commandments, “they will be targeted,” CyberLeek warns. 

However, CyberLeek is also facing accusations it’s merely trying to scam the public when it's possible the group maliciously hacked Rockstar Games. Curiously, the group says it's “raising funds for a secret project,” to fight the alleged greed in the game industry. “The specifics cannot be revealed yet; showing the cards to the big corporations would only give them time to build their defenses. Let it be absolutely clear: this is not a cash grab. Funding is directed toward the infrastructure needed to strike, as well as the security and protection required to withstand the inevitable corporate counterattacks,” the group says. 

As a result, the GTA 6 footage from CyberLeek has been watermarked with language to encourage viewers to buy the group’s own digital meme coin on Solana. However, Stop Killing Games, a group devoted to game preservation, is condemning the leaks and calling CyberLeek out as a group of hackers.

“The group is using the leak to promote a memecoin, attaching crypto links and QR codes to the footage and asking people to pay for more,” tweeted Stop Killing Games. “Do not send these people your money, no matter how much sympathy you may feel for their actions."

So far, Rockstar Games hasn’t commented on the situation, making it unclear if it suffered a computer hack. But in the meantime, the leaks threaten to spoil RockStar's own extended look of GTA 6 set for August 27th. The new trailer is supposed to first premiere on Netflix before YouTube, but we wonder if the leaks might cause Rockstar to revise its plans.

It’s not the first time someone has leaked early footage from GTA 6. Back in 2022, dozens of clips taken from an early test build were stolen and then published on the internet. The leak was later traced to Arion Kurtaj, a then 18-year-old in the UK, who was able to infiltrate an internal Slack messaging chat at Rockstar Games.  

Kurtaj, who was part of the LAPSUS$ hacking group, was reportedly “released from indefinite imprisonment at a secure hospital and is now awaiting a retrial,” according to IGN.

Can't Wait for GTA 6? Here's How to Preorder

Grand Theft Auto 6 officially comes out on November 19, 2026, but preorders are now live for both the Standard Edition and Ultimate Edition. Here's where you can preorder:

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