Rockstar Isn’t Letting the ‘GTA 6’ Leak Slide, Legal Action Begins as Subpoenas Are Filed

Grand Theft Auto 6 has been the most anticipated video game release in years, and Rockstar Games has spent the run-up to launch carefully controlling exactly how much of it the public gets to see. That careful rollout hit a major snag this week when a wave of gameplay footage suddenly began circulating online, well before the studio was ready to reveal it.

The leaks arrived at an especially inconvenient moment, landing just days before Rockstar’s own planned reveal event. With the studio’s carefully choreographed marketing timeline suddenly disrupted, Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar’s parent company, wasted no time moving from damage control into legal action.

Rockstar Games has filed subpoenas with a district court requesting information from Microsoft and Discord regarding gameplay leaks for “Grand Theft Auto 6,” with representatives for Rockstar, Microsoft, and Discord not immediately responding to requests for comment Friday. Take-Two filed the petitions with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday, seeking data from both companies under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to identify the individual or individuals responsible for the leaks.

The scope of what Take-Two is requesting is extensive. The subpoenas seek account IDs, registration emails, IP addresses, phone numbers, and linked accounts including Xbox and Google profiles, along with device identifiers and any GTA-related content stored on associated OneDrive accounts. For Discord specifically, the request covers identifying information for all users who were members of certain servers between June 1, 2026, and the present.

The leaks themselves reportedly came from a hacker or group operating under the alias “CyberLeek,” who claims to possess a playable build of the game. Multiple videos showing previously unseen gameplay elements, including combat and basketball mechanics, spread rapidly online this week, though Rockstar has yet to publicly confirm their authenticity.

Take-Two’s legal filings describe the material at stake as covering “audiovisual content, artwork, images, dialogue, or other creative elements,” language that would seem to confirm the leaked footage is treated internally as genuine rather than fabricated. The company has given Microsoft until September 4 to hand over the requested user data.

The timing adds real pressure to Rockstar’s promotional calendar. Netflix is set to debut an exclusive “extended look” at the game on August 27, footage that will later become available on YouTube and other platforms, meaning the studio now has to navigate its official unveiling against a backdrop of unauthorized clips already circulating for days beforehand.

“Grand Theft Auto 6” remains on track for its November 19 release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S and X. During an earnings call with analysts on August 7, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick described the game’s preorder launch as having gotten off to an “exceptional start,” though he declined to share specific sales figures.

Whether these subpoenas actually lead to identifying the source of the leaks remains to be seen, but the aggressive legal response signals just how seriously Take-Two is treating any threat to its control over the game’s rollout in these final months before launch. With the Netflix reveal now just days away, all eyes remain on whether Rockstar can regain control of its own narrative before the leaks spread any further.

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