Gamers have been waiting years to see gameplay footage from Grand Theft Auto VI, but this week, an individual or group known as CyberLeek has started posting possible clips online.
For anyone who has not spent years following every scrap of GTA 6 news, here is why this matters: The game is the long-awaited next installment in Rockstar Games’ enormously popular open-world crime series. Players explore fictional cities, drive vehicles, complete missions, and generally cause as much chaos as they want. Its predecessor, Grand Theft Auto V, was released in 2013, meaning fans have been waiting more than a decade for this one.
Now, just three months before GTA 6 arrives, and a week before an extended look premieres on Netflix, CyberLeek is releasing what appears to be unfinished footage from the game. The leaker has already posted videos of driving, fighting, a basketball mini game, and flying, along with images purportedly showing the game’s full map. The latest clip also shows the main character Jason shooting the word "Leek" onto a wall, suggesting the leakers have more than just random video clips.
Mashable is not posting the alleged GTA leaks, which have not been confirmed as legitimate, but the videos have been going viral on X and other platforms.
CyberLeek has also published what appears to be a manifesto on consumer rights, launched its own cryptocurrency, and asked people to spend that token to vote on which footage to release next.
If this sounds like a lot, it is. Let’s break it down.
What is CyberLeek?
CyberLeek is the name used by an unidentified person or group releasing alleged GTA 6 development material. We do not know who is behind it, where the operator is located, or how the footage was obtained. It is also unclear whether one person is running the operation or whether multiple people are involved.
CyberLeek presents itself as a kind of digital vigilante fighting for video game consumers. The homepage advertises "community voting," "decentralized leeks," and "no wallet connect," all under a pixelated image of a leek wearing tactical gear. Yes, the vegetable.
CyberLeek has also published what it calls the "CYBERLEEK Edict," a manifesto arguing that major game publishers have made the industry worse for customers.
CyberLeek lists three rules — or, in its language, "commandments" — that it wants publishers to follow. It opposes digital preorders, paid add-ons that merely unlock single-player material already contained in a game, and the permanent loss of single-player content when a publisher shuts down its servers.
According to CyberLeek, any publisher that breaks one of those rules could become a future target. It says the leaks will continue until its demands are met, which is extremely unlikely.
What has CyberLeek released so far?
The first CyberLeek videos appeared on Aug. 18 and seemed to show an unfinished version of GTA 6. As Mashable reported, one clip featured Jason Duval, one of the game’s two main characters, shooting a basketball. Another showed him driving, fighting, stealing a vehicle, and attracting the attention of the police.
Later videos reportedly showed Jason and NPCs using tasers, as well as a short cut scene.
CyberLeek has also released images it claims show the complete map of Leonida, the fictional state inspired by Florida, where GTA 6 takes place. Fans have been examining the footage for hints about how the game will work, including possible fuel gauges for vehicles, weapon-storage systems, and new ways of escaping the police.
Before getting too excited (or disappointed), there is an important caveat. If the footage is authentic, it appears to come from an unfinished development build, meaning a working version used while the game is still being created and tested. Prominent gaming leaker NateTheHate described the footage as more than a year old, while Insider Gaming says it may date back to 2024 or earlier.
Anything in this version could have been changed, improved, or removed before the game is released. The videos have also been repeatedly downloaded and reposted, reducing their quality each time. They are not a reliable indication of how the finished game will look.
There is another complication: None of the footage has been publicly authenticated by Rockstar. Take-Two, Rockstar’s parent company, has submitted copyright claims to remove copies of the videos. That suggests the company considers the material to be copyrighted, but it does not independently prove that every CyberLeek video or claim is legitimate.
Convincing, AI-generated "leaks" also regularly circulate in GTA 6 fan communities. It remains possible that some of CyberLeek’s material has been altered or generated using AI.
The latest video has added a new wrinkle to the ever-evolving conversation, though.
The clip begins with Jason flying a small plane over a large, highly detailed section of the game’s world while switching between radio stations, another piece of generic gameplay footage. However, the ending changed the situation for a lot of fans: While Jason is standing in front of a wall, the player fires enough bullets into it to spell "LEEK." So, while earlier leaks could have been pre-recorded videos stolen from Rockstar or one of its business partners, the latter clip would require someone to control the game in real-time.
In other words, whoever recorded the clip may have access to a playable build.
Of course, this clip could be misinterpreted or AI-generated, but the possibility of a playable build is far more serious than a limited folder of recordings. Why? Well, a collection of videos eventually runs out. Someone with a playable build could deliberately hunt down missions, cutscenes, plot twists, or the ending and publish them before launch.
Mashable contacted Rockstar and Take-Two repeatedly about the footage but has not received any additional information.
Why is CyberLeek targeting Rockstar?
CyberLeek's clearest complaint involves digital preorders. In the past, customers often preordered games because stores had a limited number of physical discs available. CyberLeek argues that the practice no longer benefits customers when the product is a digital download that cannot sell out.
"Preorders were not created for gamers," the manifesto reads. "They were created because physical discs had manufacturing limits."
GTA 6 is available for digital preorder, but Rockstar is not releasing the game on a physical disc. Although customers can buy a box in a store, that box will contain a one-time download code instead of the game itself.
That decision arrives as physical games are quickly disappearing across the industry. In the United States, spending on physical video games fell to approximately $1.5 billion in 2025, its lowest level in 30 years, as players increasingly turned to downloads, subscriptions, and cloud gaming. Current consoles such as the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition and Xbox Series S do not include disc drives at all.
In July, Sony announced that it will stop producing discs for all new PlayStation games beginning in January 2028. Games released before then will not be affected, but future releases will be sold digitally through the PlayStation Store and retailers. The announcement intensified an already heated conversation about the death of physical games.
CyberLeek has taken "complaining on the internet" several steps further, turning its frustration into a threat: Some leaked videos include the message "NO PHYSICAL DISCS? THEN MORE LEEKS!"
Digital preorders do offer benefits, including letting customers download a large game before launch. CyberLeek’s argument is that publishers should not receive money before a game is available or independently reviewed when digital copies cannot sell out. "If publishers want revenue before launch, they can press discs," its manifesto says.
Physical media is only one part of CyberLeek’s agenda. It also opposes charging players to unlock single-player content already contained in a game’s files. That may explain its criticism of GTA 6’s $99.99 Ultimate Edition, though there is no evidence that its exclusive missions and other benefits are included in every copy.
CyberLeek also wants games to remain playable offline after their servers close, citing Ubisoft’s The Crew, which became inaccessible in 2024. Rockstar has not indicated that this will be an issue for GTA 6.
That preservation argument overlaps with Stop Killing Games, an international consumer campaign that pushes publishers and governments to keep purchased games playable after official support ends. The campaign has rejected CyberLeek’s tactics, however. "Using illegal means to make a point is unacceptable to us," it said in a statement. It also urged people not to send CyberLeek money by purchasing the group's memecoin.
CyberLeek has its own crypto meme coin
Yes, CyberLeek has also launched a Solana-based memecoin called $CYBERLEEK.
For those who may need a refresher, a memecoin is a cryptocurrency whose value depends largely on internet attention and speculation rather than an established product or business. CyberLeek says its token will fund a secret project, technical infrastructure, and protection from corporate retaliation. Despite insisting that it is "not a cash grab," the group has not explained what the project is or where the money goes.
The token is also how CyberLeek lets people vote on future leaks. Users send $CYBERLEEK to the option they want, with each token counting toward that choice. This means the results reflect how much cryptocurrency each option received — not necessarily how many individual people voted.
One poll asked users to choose whether the next video should show a car during the day, a car at night, a motorcycle at night, or a plane during the day. The plane won after receiving more than 147,000 tokens, or 64.4 percent of the total. CyberLeek then released the plane footage, complete with the “LEEK” message at the end.
As of this writing, the plane poll and video are the most recent updates on the CyberLeek website.
It is a convenient cycle for CyberLeek: The GTA 6 footage generates interest in its token, and anyone who wants to influence the next leak must acquire and spend that token.
CyberLeek required users to send its memecoin to vote on which footage it would release next.
Credit: Cyberleek
How much is the cryptocurrency actually worth? Well, as of the afternoon on Aug. 20, $CYBERLEEK was trading at about $0.001227 per token. Multiplying that price by the one billion tokens in existence produced a possible market capitalization of roughly $1.23 million.
The $CYBERLEEK token had a nominal market capitalization of $1.23 million and approximately $198,000 in liquidity at 1:23 p.m. ET on Aug. 20.
Credit: Screenshot: https://ift.tt/lKrwcSi
The dashboard showed approximately $198,000 in liquidity — the pool of money available to support people buying and selling the token. With relatively little money supporting a much larger paper valuation, a few large trades could move the price sharply. It also showed $3.89 million in trading volume.
Ownership was concentrated, too. The 10 largest wallets controlled 51.6 percent of the token supply. Some of those wallets may belong to trading pools or automated accounts, but this concentration means that a small number of wallets could have a significant influence over the price.
That price has already been extremely volatile. The token surged shortly after launching and then lost much of its value. CoinGecko reported that it was trading significantly below the record high it had reached only one day earlier.
Who is actually behind CyberLeek?
The short answer is that we don't know.
The growing number of accounts impersonating CyberLeek is making the answer even harder to find. In a statement shared through what it identifies as its official Telegram channel, CyberLeek said it operates only that channel and its website. Accounts using the name on X, Discord, Instagram, and elsewhere should therefore not automatically be treated as legitimate.
Impersonators have already posted supposed story details and leak schedules. CyberLeek denied one timeline circulating through Discord and accused other accounts of editing older posts to make it appear as though they knew about the leaks before they happened. In the same Telegram statement, CyberLeek reportedly referred to Arion Kurtaj, the hacker behind the enormous 2022 GTA 6 leak, as "our colleague," according to fan account GTA Leaks.
There is also no established connection between CyberLeek and ShinyHunters, the ransomware group that claimed responsibility for accessing Rockstar data through a third-party provider in April. Rockstar said that breach involved a limited amount of unimportant company information and did not affect its operations or players.
Until CyberLeek explains where its footage came from — or investigators identify the people behind it — claims about its origin remain speculation. And though this situation is unusual, the game industry has seen enormous leaks before.
The closest comparison is the 2023 ransomware attack on Insomniac Games, the studio behind PlayStation’s Spider-Man series. After Insomniac refused to pay a roughly $2 million ransom, the Rhysida hacking group released 1.67 terabytes of stolen material. It included a playable but unfinished version of Marvel’s Wolverine, plus story details, business plans, and sensitive employee information.
A leaker does not need the entire game to ruin its biggest moments, either. In April 2020, footage from The Last of Us Part II appeared online nearly two months before launch, revealing major character deaths and plot developments. People then deliberately posted those spoilers across social media. Sony later said the individuals responsible were not affiliated with Sony or developer Naughty Dog.
Then there is the risk of exposing how a game works. In 2003, German hacker Axel Gembe stole the source code — the underlying instructions used to build a game — for Half-Life 2. The code and an unfinished version of the game appeared online before release. Gembe was eventually arrested after Valve helped lure him into contact with the FBI.
What happens next?
Fans are divided over what CyberLeek is doing.
In the comments under one post about the leaks, some celebrated finally seeing apparently legitimate GTA 6 footage after years of delays and hype, while others pleaded with people not to amplify the leaks and risk spoiling the story. Unverified claims have also circulated that CyberLeek possesses information about Lucia Caminos, the game’s other main character, and her ending. (No evidence currently confirms those claims.) Still, if someone can create customized footage from a playable build, the possibility of story spoilers cannot be dismissed outright.
The leaker also has one more prime opportunity to create chaos. Netflix will debut an official extended look at GTA 6 on Aug. 27, before the presentation becomes available more broadly. Any footage released before then could spoil — or simply drain attention from — whatever Rockstar and Netflix have planned.
GTA 6 is scheduled to launch on Nov. 19. Until then, fans hoping to arrive in Leonida without knowing the entire story may want to mute “CyberLeek,” stay out of the replies, and hope the ending doesn't become an option in the next poll.
from Mashable https://ift.tt/5XHjA9R
