Take-Two Interactive filed subpoenas against Microsoft, Discord, Google, and X Corp. on August 20, targeting the leaker known as Cyberleek. The legal filings cite stolen content, seemingly confirming the legitimacy of early Grand Theft Auto VI gameplay clips circulating online ahead of an official Netflix debut.
The gaming industry’s most closely guarded secret collided with aggressive legal maneuvering this week as Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., the parent company of Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar Games, launched a coordinated crackdown on the leaker operating under the handle Cyberleek. According to legal filings submitted on Aug. 20, the publisher initiated subpoenas against major tech and communication platforms naming Microsoft and Discord, followed soon after by subpoenas against Google and X Corp.
Those filings specifically cited stolen content,
seemingly confirming that at least some of the Cyberleek videos are legitimate. That legal language offered the first official indication that the short gameplay snippets flooding social media platforms are genuine material from the upcoming blockbuster, rather than sophisticated forgeries or fan-made concepts.
Take-Two Subpoenas Microsoft and Discord to Unmask Leakers
The legal pressure applied by Take-Two serves a dual purpose: requesting the removal of leaked material that violates its copyrights, as well as information that could unmask the leakers.
Despite the legal offensive, the leak campaign has persisted. The entity behind the leaks has continued publishing short segments online, while notably running polls on its website that allow people to pay in cryptocurrency to vote on what should be leaked next. The unconventional rollout has kept the title in intense focus just days before official promotional materials roll out.
What the Cyberleek Clips Reveal About Vice City
While the leaked videos avoid major plot spoilers, at least so far, they give players an unprecedented look at the game’s massive open-world environment and mechanical systems. At the time of publication, several clips and screenshots have been posted by Cyberleek that purportedly show different aspects of GTA 6, from the game’s map to glimpses of cut scenes. The surface material includes cropped world map segments displaying specific locations such as Dalton Island, Tequesta Retreat, Gloriana Key, and Catalan Key, alongside an alleged view of the entire in-game map.
Gameplay segments show protagonist Jason Duval engaged in a variety of activities across the fictional setting of Vice City. The circulating clips depict basketball mini-games with protagonist Jason Duval throwing a basketball into a hoop in a mini-game, high-speed driving through city streets, armed robberies, interactions with non-player characters at a strip club and a nudist colony where the NPCs are, obviously, nude, and an aerial flight over Vice City, with much of the game world visible below. In one notable clip, the end, whoever is playing the game in the clip shoots the word “LEEK” into a wall with bullets, suggesting the leaker has a playable build of the game.
Other details captured in the footage point to survival and inventory mechanics. A clip that appears to show a healing drug called Zombix features a tooltip indicating that Zombix’s effects will weaken over time if the player uses it too much.
Authenticity Debate Amid the AI Wave
The timing of the leaks coincides with a broader digital environment where countless AI-generated videos posing as “leaks” are also circulating widely on social media. Yet experienced observers note that as someone who has played nearly every GTA game, the movement appears to be recreated remarkably well in these videos, and everything from character movement to NPC interactions looks relatively on-brand for a modern Rockstar game, though we live in a world where it’s easy to generate convincing AI videos.
Official promotional material is set to arrive soon, with real, official gameplay footage set to debut on Netflix on Aug. 27. Representatives for Rockstar Games and Take-Two have said nothing about the leaks outside of the subpoenas filed last week, and Mashable has contacted the companies repeatedly with questions about the leaks, and we’ll update this story if we receive a response.
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