The biggest open-world action adventure game of 2026 is knee-deep in a lot of controversy.

Grand Theft Auto 6, the upcoming crime game sequel from developer Rockstar Games and publisher Take-Two Interactive, had its gameplay leaked by cyberhacking group Cyberleek ahead of their grand gameplay reveal on Netflix on August 28 3am GMT+8. In fact, the hacker group may be releasing more than that, as they claimed recently they have a recent build of the game that’s allegedly running on PC. Note that GTA 6 is coming out on November 19 for only Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 consoles.

The reasons for this happening, apart from getting their jollies, is because Cyberleek want to prove a point that Rockstar, Take-Two, and their other console publisher partners like Sony should not be greedy by charging people a lot for a game -about US$80 & more- and also force consumers into a “digital-only, no physical media” ecosystem that is arguably rigged to the publishers’ favour.

Long story short: it has been quite a harrowing week for Rockstar and Take-Two, with a good number of people siding with either.

Note: we are NOT showing off footage and clips of the leaks. We are just recapping the news cycle involving the leaks and the game, as well as Take Two Interactive and Rockstar’s handling of the situation. We will also update this feature with new information leading up to the Netflix special reveal later this week.

September 2022

The first leak of Grand Theft Auto 6 came out. The leak was from an initial build of the game from years ago, though it did show off third-person gameplay most fans are familiar with. The leak also unofficially introduced the world to the game’s two protagonists: Jason and Lucia.

18 August 2026

Two minute-long gameplay clips of GTA 6 popped up on social media, showing the co-protagonist Jason driving on a highway and tossing a basketball into a hoop.

We found out later that this is the work of hacker group CyberLeek. The video leak posts were overlaid with links and messages that included a solicitation for people to buy a memecoin. It also contains threats to publishers for not following a set of video game consumer “commandments”. These include:

• Offer offline modes for online games
• Refrain from “fake single-player DLC”
• Refrain from soliciting digital pre-orders for games before release and independent review

19 August 2026

Two more clips have leaked.

20 August 2026

A new clip has gone live, showing Jason shooting bullet holes into a wall to spell out the word “LEEK”. This is the group’s way of saying they have access to a build of the game.

21 August 2026

Another new clip has surfaced online. At this point, CyberLeek has said on their website that they have the latest build of the game.

Stop Killing Games, a group dedicated to games media preservation, stated that they are against the criminal acts of Cyberleek and their leaking of GTA6 footage.

“Using illegal means to make a point is unacceptable to us and does nothing to protect our right to keep using what we paid for. No matter how strongly you disagree with the decisions of upper management at these companies, there are still thousands of developers who worked hard on this project — and they’re the ones being hit the hardest.”

A statement on the current GTA 6 Footage leak situation

Footage from GTA 6 has leaked, and a group of hackers, whom we will deliberately not name here, to avoid giving them further attention, claims responsibility. The footage itself appears to be genuine: Take-Two has already… pic.twitter.com/0rxQFXpdV2

— Stop Killing Games Official (@StopKilingGames) August 19, 2026

22 August 2026

Take-Two Interactive has sent a subpoena over to Microsoft and Discord to hand over personal information so that the company can track down the GTA 6 leaker. A judge has given the go-ahead for this.

Xbox CTO Scott Van Vliet posted the following on X:

“We are working closely with Take-Two and Rockstar Games to support efforts to protect creative works and intellectual property.”

Story still in development…