Every Major GTA VI Leak, and What Happened Next

GTA VI has leaked in public at least three times: a stolen batch of development clips in 2022, its own first trailer in 2023, and a run of footage and the map in 2026. Each time Rockstar responded differently, and so did Take-Two. This is the dated record, with legal facts attributed to the court documents and outlets that reported them.

We don't link or describe any leaked footage. That's partly a copyright matter and partly because the game is so close to launch. If you'd rather keep it clean, our spoiler-avoidance guide is the useful page.

At a glance

September 2022: the Slack breach

REPORTED On September 18, 2022, a user calling themselves "teapotuberhacker" posted 90 videos of work-in-progress GTA VI footage, roughly 50 minutes in total, to GTAForums. The material had been taken from Rockstar's internal Slack, and the poster threatened to release source code and builds. Wikipedia's account of the coverage says journalists called it one of the biggest leaks in video game history. PC Gamer, citing the BBC, later reported the message the hacker posted to Rockstar's Slack: "I am not a Rockstar employee, I am an attacker."

OFFICIAL Rockstar's statement on September 19 said it had "suffered a network intrusion" in which an unauthorized third party "illegally accessed and downloaded confidential information from our systems," including early development footage for the next Grand Theft Auto. It said it did not "anticipate any disruption to our live game services" or "any long-term effect on the development of our ongoing projects," and that it was "extremely disappointed to have any details of our next game shared with you all in this way" (as quoted by GameSpot).

OFFICIAL The same day, Take-Two filed a Form 8-K with the SEC repeating the substance: "Current Rockstar Games services are unaffected," "Work on the game will continue as planned," and no anticipated "long-term effect on its development timelines." A video game leak is not normally a matter for a securities filing. Filing one told investors the company considered it material enough to disclose. Take-Two still cites the September 2022 intrusion as a risk-factor example in its annual report for fiscal 2026, filed in May 2026.

REPORTED Take-Two also sent takedown requests for videos and forum threads carrying the footage (The Guardian, via Wikipedia).

The case against the 2022 hacker

This section sticks to what courts decided and what named outlets reported. Some headlines got a few of these points wrong.

Arrest and the 2023 trial

REPORTED City of London Police arrested a 17-year-old from Oxfordshire on September 22, 2022, in an investigation supported by the UK's National Cyber Crime Unit and US federal law enforcement (per Wikipedia's sourcing). He was later named as Arion Kurtaj. According to PC Gamer and the BBC, he carried out the Rockstar breach while on bail for other hacking offences, from a Travelodge where police had placed him, using an Amazon Fire Stick plugged into the hotel TV and a phone.

REPORTED In 2023, at Southwark Crown Court, psychiatrists assessed Kurtaj as unfit to stand trial. The jury therefore did not decide guilt. It decided whether he had done the acts. On August 23, 2023 it found that he had committed the acts behind all 12 offences, which included computer misuse, blackmail and fraud, and which covered companies besides Rockstar such as Uber and Revolut (AP; PC Gamer). A second defendant, 17 at the time and not named because of his age, was convicted.

The hospital order

REPORTED On December 21, 2023, Judge Patricia Lees placed Kurtaj in a secure hospital indefinitely. He would stay there until a mental health tribunal decided he no longer posed a danger to others. The judge said he posed "a high risk of serious harm to the public through skill in gaining unfettered access to computers" (VGC, citing Bloomberg). TechRadar, citing the BBC, reported that a mental health assessment found he "continued to express the intent to return to cyber-crime as soon as possible," and that Rockstar told the court the hack cost it $5 million and thousands of staff hours to recover. Some headlines called this a "life sentence." It wasn't a sentence. Because he was unfit to plead, no conviction was entered.

The 2025 appeal

OFFICIAL The Court of Appeal's judgment in Arion Kurtaj v R [2025] EWCA Crim 1163, handed down September 11, 2025, records that he received a hospital order under section 37 of the Mental Health Act 1983 with a restriction order under section 41. The court agreed with one of his grounds: evidence of six earlier Computer Misuse Act convictions from March 2021 "should have been excluded." It still found the evidence against him "very strong" and concluded: "we dismiss the appeal against the jury's findings that the applicant did the relevant acts." The 2023 findings stand.

2026: prison, and a new trial

REPORTED In July 2026, BBC News correspondent Joe Tidy reported that Kurtaj had been moved out of the secure hospital and into a regular prison to await a new trial in November. Tidy wrote that "it's unclear why Kurtaj has now been deemed fit to face a conventional criminal trial" (as quoted by TechSpot). Game Rant reported that he has since been "assessed as fit to plead."

REPORTED Red Lion Chambers, whose barristers represent him, said in a LinkedIn post that the case "is scheduled to start on November 9th" at Woolwich Crown Court (Notebookcheck; Game Rant). Outlets call it a retrial. Because the 2023 hearing decided only whether he did the acts, this would be the first trial to decide whether he is guilty. As of November 11, 2026, we found no reporting on whether it began as listed. A defendant who is on trial is presumed innocent, and we'll only report what the court decides.

December 2023: the trailer that went out early

OFFICIAL Rockstar had scheduled GTA VI's first trailer for 9 AM ET on December 5, 2023, to mark its 25th anniversary. A low-quality copy leaked online the evening before. Rockstar didn't issue takedowns or put out a statement. It posted the trailer hours ahead of schedule, still on December 4, with one line: "Our trailer has leaked so please watch the real thing on YouTube" (Game Developer).

REPORTED That was the first time Rockstar answered a leak by releasing the real thing early. It didn't hurt the reception: Wikipedia, citing contemporary coverage, records 93 million views in the first day. The trailer confirmed the title, Vice City, the two leads and a 2025 window, a window Rockstar later moved twice. The full sequence is in our release date history.

October 2025: leaks as an employment dispute

REPORTED On October 30, 2025, Rockstar dismissed staff in the UK and Canada. International Business Times UK puts the total at 34, 31 of them UK-based union members. Rockstar's stated reason was that they leaked confidential information in a Discord channel. The IWGB union says the dismissals were union-busting. Rockstar has told AFP: "We reject the claims and will defend them vigorously before the tribunal." The Glasgow employment tribunal's closing submissions are scheduled for November 17 and 18, 2026, per IBTimes UK. The background is in our union dispute explainer, and no finding has been made either way.

August 2026: CyberLeek

REPORTED Over nine days from August 18, 2026, an account called CyberLeek released gameplay footage and the full map, attached them to a crypto token, and demanded changes to the physical editions that ship without a disc and edition-exclusive content. Take-Two filed DMCA subpoena requests in the Southern District of New York to Discord, Microsoft, X Corp and Google. OFFICIAL Rockstar posted on Instagram on August 26 that the leaks had been "heartbreaking for our team" and asked fans to wait for November 19. The next day, the official 27-minute Extended Look premiered on Netflix.

The full dated record, including the token cash-out, is in our CyberLeek timeline. As of November 10 we found no reporting of an arrest or charge.

How the response changed

• 2022: contain it, then disclose. A public statement, an SEC filing and takedowns, followed by a City of London Police investigation supported by US federal law enforcement. Rockstar's line was that it would "properly introduce" the game "when it is ready."
• 2023: release the real thing. The trailer went out early with no legal action. Once the official version was available, the leaked copy didn't matter much.
• 2026: go to court, and release more. Take-Two went straight to federal court for subpoenas, and Rockstar posted a statement that sounded hurt. The next day the official Extended Look premiered, a long showing of real footage. Our GTA 6 by the numbers page has the marketing timeline around it.

The common thread is that each leak eventually got an official version, either the same day or the next day. That is also the practical advice for this week. If you see "leaked" GTA VI material before November 19, the real game is days away and pre-loads are already downloading. Our everything we know page sticks to what Rockstar has confirmed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened to the GTA 6 hacker?

Arion Kurtaj was found unfit to stand trial in 2023. A jury found he had done the acts behind 12 offences, and in December 2023 he was given an indefinite hospital order. The Court of Appeal upheld those findings in September 2025. BBC News reported in July 2026 that he had been moved to prison to await a new trial.

Is the GTA 6 hacker on trial in November 2026?

His barristers' chambers said the case was scheduled to start on November 9, 2026 at Woolwich Crown Court, according to Notebookcheck and Game Rant. As of November 10 we found no reporting on whether it began as listed.

Why did the GTA 6 trailer come out early?

A low-quality copy leaked the evening before its scheduled 9 AM ET premiere on December 5, 2023. Rockstar posted the official trailer early, saying 'Our trailer has leaked so please watch the real thing on YouTube.'

How much did the 2022 hack cost Rockstar?

Rockstar told the court the hack cost it $5 million and thousands of staff hours to recover, according to the BBC's sentencing coverage as reported by TechRadar.

Has CyberLeek been arrested?

As of November 10, 2026 we found no reporting of an arrest or charge. Take-Two's court filings are DMCA subpoenas seeking identifying information from platforms.

Sources

• SEC: Take-Two Interactive Form 8-K, September 19, 2022
• SEC: Take-Two Interactive Form 10-K for fiscal 2026
• National Archives Find Case Law: Arion Kurtaj v R [2025] EWCA Crim 1163
• GameSpot: GTA 6 leak: Rockstar responds, says work will continue as planned
• Associated Press via WTOP: Jury says UK teens were part of the hacking group behind a Grand Theft Auto blackmail bid
• PC Gamer: Teenager found liable for GTA 6 hack did it in a Travelodge
• VGC: GTA 6 hacker sentenced to an indefinite hospital order
• TechRadar: GTA 6 hacker sentenced to an indefinite hospital order
• TechSpot: GTA 6 hacker who was sentenced to life in a secure hospital moved to prison
• Notebookcheck: Hacker who leaked GTA 6 gameplay goes on trial 10 days before release date
• Game Rant: Alleged GTA 6 leaker goes on trial on November 9
• Game Developer: Rockstar trailer drop confirms Grand Theft Auto VI is launching in 2025
• Kotaku: Grand Theft Auto VI's first trailer drops early after leak
• International Business Times UK: Rockstar staff to vote on union during GTA 6 release week
• Wikipedia: Development of Grand Theft Auto VI