GTA 6 Leakers Claim Consumer-Rights Crusade While Pushing a Memecoin — and Everyone Says No
A hacker group calling itself Cyberleek leaked several minutes of what appears to be Grand Theft Auto VI gameplay this week, overlaying the footage with advertisements for a cryptocurrency and donation requests. Take-Two Interactive, GTA 6's publisher, responded with DMCA takedown notices — legal demands to remove copyrighted material — to pull the clips offline. The footage appears genuine, according to the consumer-rights group Stop Killing Games, which cited the speed of Take-Two's takedown strikes as evidence of authenticity in a statement posted on August 19, 2026 at 1:50 AM. (Stop Killing Games, via X)
Cyberleek's manifesto, now removed from its website, framed the leak as a protest against "code-in-a-box" physical releases — console editions that ship with a download code instead of a disc — and warned that the group would target other developers who ship games without a proper physical edition. The Cyberleek website also railed against monetisation schemes in video games, including live-service models that sell and update games in seasons after launch. (Kotaku)
But the leaked videos themselves carried promotions for a memecoin on the Solana blockchain platform, alongside QR codes soliciting donations. Cyberleek said it was raising funds for a "secret project," presumably through the sale of the memecoin. (GameSpot; GamesRadar)
Stop Killing Games — a campaign advocating for consumers' right to keep accessing games they have paid for — rejected any association with the hackers, deliberately declining to name the group to avoid giving it further attention. "Using illegal means to make a point is unacceptable and does nothing to protect the right to keep using what consumers paid for," the group said, adding that the leak could hurt the thousands of developers working on GTA 6. It also expressed doubt that the hack was seriously carried out for the stated reason and warned the public not to send money. (Stop Killing Games, via X)
The group pointed to a cautionary precedent. In 2022, GTA 6 footage was leaked by an 18-year-old hacker who was later sentenced to an indefinite hospital order — a court-mandated placement in a secure psychiatric facility with no fixed end date. Take-Two described those earlier leaks as "really frustrating and upsetting." (BBC News; GameSpot)
The timing is notable. Rockstar's own official "Extended Look" at GTA 6 is scheduled to premiere on Netflix on August 27, just over a week after the leak surfaced. (GameSpot)
GTA 6 is scheduled for release in November.
