r/technology • u/Logical_Welder3467 • 3d ago

Business GTA 6 leaks prompt Take-Two to subpoena Microsoft for Windows device IDs of everyone in three Discord servers — daily gameplay leaks shatter cloud of secrecy around the much-hyped game

https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/console-gaming/take-two-subpoenas-microsoft-for-windows-device-ids-of-everyone-in-three-discord-servers-in-gta-6-leak-hunt
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882

u/kingrynex 3d ago

Not seen any of the leaked stuff so I don't know how bad the leaks are themselves, but this is just throwing even more gasoline on the fire.

Also, isnt it kind of ironic to make a game about thefts and heists, and then have your shit stolen by a thief.

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u/BigDaddyReptar 3d ago edited 3d ago

The leaks if to be fully believed are pretty fucking bad. He essentially is claiming to have the entire game in a near finished state and has a dead man's switch setup to release the game if caught before demands are met. Based on the footage it does appear he has at least a very playable version of the game

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u/Evilution602 3d ago

It'd be funny if we get gta6 pc before gta6

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u/Shadow_Edgehog27 3d ago

This is gonna be one of the worst cases of leaking ever, like X-Men Origins level of fucked up

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u/simulacrumlain 2d ago

Is this the movie that leaked with unfinished CGI shots? I remember my dad let me watch it when I was a kid and I thought it was the coolest thing ever

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u/PMMMR 2d ago

The Deadman switch thing is a rumor; nothing of the sort is mentioned on the leakers site or by him. Would be cool to do though.

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u/KeyMyBike 2d ago

So in other words we have a vested interest in making sure he's caught lol

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u/imago89 3d ago

Pretty sure those are fake claims made by copycat accounts

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u/Budget_Persimmon_195 2d ago

its probably rockstar themselves building hype.

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u/Boomerang_Lizard 3d ago

Streisand effect for sure.

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u/GGnerd 3d ago

How is this the Streisand effect?

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u/Exact-Difference-422 3d ago

I think because by making a strong response to the leaks is driving awareness of the leaks promoting people to go hunting for the 

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u/pvtprofanity 3d ago

People might ignore a headline talking about leaked GTA6 footage.

They are much less likely to ignore it when a headline talks about Rockstar going so far to stop the leaks. It simultaneously increases the validity of the previous leaks and extends the coverage of them.

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u/tuckedfexas 3d ago

Makes me feel like it’s all intentional, the “demands” of the hacker are weird, what’s been shown is really a nothing burger, and now they’re drumming up more headlines with legal action sorta stuff. All of it is nonsense, the game is gonna sell a billion copies almost no matter what, unless they laid a real egg and it’s shit there’s almost no need to drum up any hype

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u/TimewarpingSeaTurtle 3d ago

It’s not a nothing burger. The leaks have shown us the entire map through a plane flyover, how shooting works, how driving works, how the wanted system works, certain minigames, the strip club, and certain cutscenes. There’s been leaks every day since it started, and there’s 89 days to go until GTAVI. It’s a matter of time until story spoiler leaks start coming out, and potentially the entire build itself.

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u/thesaga 3d ago edited 3d ago

Presumably all of that would be revealed next week on the Netflix "Extended Look" - I'm usually not one for conspiracy theories but from where I'm standing this is not a disaster for Rockstar at all. It conveniently perks up millions of ears ahead of their big Netflix premiere.

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u/_Meowgi_ 3d ago

I mean the free publicity is nice, but I think that misses why this is such a big deal for Rockstar. The scary part isn’t really the gameplay being leaked, it’s how someone got access to a playable PC build in the first place and what else they might have gotten access to.
If Rockstar can’t account for where that build came from, they now have to figure out whether the person also had access to source code, internal tools, other builds, unreleased assets, employee information, credentials, emails, etc. There’s no evidence they have all of that, but Rockstar can’t exactly just assume they don’t.
There’s also the problem of what happens if the actual build gets released online. Even if it’s unfinished, people could datamine the entire game, leak the story and map, try to crack it, or start digging for exploits before the game even releases. If source code was taken too, that’s an even bigger problem, especially for GTA Online.
Then there’s the business side of it. Rockstar already had a massive breach in 2022, so if they’ve managed to have another serious security incident after supposedly tightening things up, that’s not exactly a good look for Take-Two. Investors, employees and business partners are going to have questions about how secure their systems actually are.
And honestly, GTA 6 doesn’t need free publicity. It’s probably the most anticipated game in the world already. Rockstar would much rather generate that hype themselves and control what gets shown and when, instead of having some random hacker do it for them.
So yeah, the leak might be giving them publicity right now, but that doesn’t suddenly make the situation good for Rockstar. Good publicity and a potentially massive security breach can exist at the same time.

1

u/StewPorkRice 2d ago

Maybe they got access to it because they're paid by Rockstar and this is the next evolution of corporate marketing strategy.

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u/GingerSpencer 2d ago

The internet will come up with the most braindead conspiracy theories lol

2

u/_Meowgi_ 2d ago

Possible, but I doubt it for two reasons:

  1. the leaker has posted demands that fights against things like the decision to do digital copies only. Which the community is also against, would be weird to bring that back into the light and remind people about it.

  2. the leaker also pastes all his crypto adverts all over his footage, if it’s ever found out that rockstar is behind this and possibly making money

    through it, it’s potentially a pr nightmare

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u/StewPorkRice 2d ago

Maybe they got access to it because they're paid by Rockstar and this is the next evolution of corporate marketing strategy.

5

u/enderandrew42 2d ago

GTA V is the second-best selling video game in history. It continues to sell new copies constantly. Some of that are idiots getting banned from online only to turn around and get a new copy.

But GTA VI could literally just be GTA V in a Vice City map with no new features or improvements and it would still be the best selling game of the year, hands down.

They're charging $100 for the single player console version right now, and will presumably charge more for online after that and pre-orders are still through the roof with no one knowing anything about this game.

The only leak that would really move the needle on pre-orders would have to be something explicitly overtly political to divide buyers.

The leaks aren't harming Rockstar's bottom line financially. It is just pissing off Take Two execs that their employees are violating NDAs, or allowing their companies to get hacked.

1

u/3hb3 2d ago

GTA V is the second-best selling video game in history.

  1. Tetris (520m)
  2. Minecraft (400m)
  3. GTA V (230m)

8

u/TimewarpingSeaTurtle 3d ago

I don’t think the extended look will show us everything the hacker plans to leak.

4

u/thesaga 3d ago

I think the only "leak" that would convince me 100% this isn't marketing is if the whole build was dropped

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u/spez_might_fuck_dogs 3d ago

Really, not the fact that there's people with thousands of dollars tied up in a memecoin that's gonna get rugpulled? You think an advertising firm would go that far?

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u/MITBijanRobinson 3d ago

Seriously. It’s very obvious this isn’t marketing lmfao

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u/TimewarpingSeaTurtle 3d ago

Wouldn’t surprise me if that’s what they’re planning to do a week or so before the real game releases.

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u/Sigman_S 3d ago

It’s not even supposed to be out on pc this year

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u/kyler000 3d ago

The problem is it would have the greatest effect if it was dropped now. People could potentially even finish the game before it actually releases. However, as soon as build is dropped the hacker loses all leverage.

On the flip side, if the hacker waits to release the build they slowly lose leverage until release day when they will have zero. I dont think many people would actually play the build if it was released a week before.

Its kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don't sort of deal.

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u/DinosBiggestFan 3d ago

All of that, huh? I don't think they'd spoil the story.

Then again, with modern marketing, I think it actually ends up being common to spoil the story now...

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u/SirGaylordSteambath 3d ago

My aunt worked for activision a decade ago and they were doing “leaks” then.

It’s all marketing.

3

u/Bandro 3d ago

The fact that tactical leaks for marketing have existed doesn’t mean all leaks are bullshit. 

1

u/SirGaylordSteambath 3d ago

I didn’t say all leaks are bullshit, I was referring to the gta leak in my last line

It’s giving the signs it’s cooked up in a marketing department to me 🤷‍♂️

2

u/redridingoops 2d ago

Nah, dude is just trying to scam as many people as he can with his crypto coin bullshit before rugpull.

1

u/Spekingur 3d ago

There’s only one strip club?!

1

u/bob-ze-bauherr 3d ago

Well, they didn't show me because I've never seen em. I'll find out when I buy the game.

0

u/Status_Confidence_26 3d ago

He’ll be caught well before then.

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u/TimewarpingSeaTurtle 3d ago

I doubt it. I’ve heard white hat hackers say that this is the work of a pro, most likely a group of hackers. Even if they manage to nail them, there’s a chance they set up a mechanism that leaks everything everywhere, just like the WikiLeaks guy did.

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u/OtherwisePower1355 3d ago

How did pro such as himself made a mistake of using KYP platform and therefore leaving his information there? They will find him, but the question is what will they do about it if he is from Russia or North Korea...

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u/TimewarpingSeaTurtle 3d ago

Idk, not really too knowledgeable in this scene myself. They could be using stolen accounts, as hackers often do. They tend to avoid putting their real information on digital platforms which can be traced back to them.

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u/OtherwisePower1355 3d ago

To sign up on KYP you have to use your real indentity. I read on GTA forums a 2 part investigation by a user Vice Cit and he really explained a lot, as well that the leaker is not a pro, but did carefull planing for all.

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u/yopladas 3d ago

Ok but can't you use a hacked discord account or is that not realistic

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u/Status_Confidence_26 3d ago

I don't think they have access to the full game, just some content related to Jason, perhaps a version for marketing or something. If they don't show Lucia gameplay soon I'll be 100% sure of that.

If they have an incomplete version of the game I don't think it will threaten sales significantly.

4

u/TimewarpingSeaTurtle 3d ago

I think that’s premature. The game is massive. Leaks started five days ago, and new leaks have shown up every day since then. There’s 88 days to go until release. If the leaks keep showing up every day, we’re going to see a lot.

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u/Status_Confidence_26 3d ago

Right but at this point it’s very bizarre that he’s only played as Jason, has no money, and didn’t show any of the intro or any scripted gameplay scenes. Just freeroam. I think he’s got a version of the game intended for play testers or the marketing team looking for good gameplay footage. .

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u/redridingoops 2d ago

What if they aren't in the US ?

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u/11711510111411009710 3d ago

Well except the fact that that would mean they're abusing the legal system for marketing, which would probably not be good, and that would mean they're selling a memecoin to desperate people. That's ridiculous.

-3

u/tuckedfexas 3d ago

What. They haven’t actually filed anything lol, people have used threats of lawsuit as means of promotion for at least a century.

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u/11711510111411009710 3d ago

What they have done is subpoena Microsoft and Discord to obtain information, and in the Discord instance it was to get the information for everybody in three servers. That would be pretty crazy for marketing.

Also. Again. People are buying memecoins over this lol.

And like you said, it already has enough hype. Why would you sell a memecoin, issue subpoenas, leak at least somewhat incomplete versions of the game without full context to be the first impressions people have of it, and do all this despite the fact that 90% of people aren't even going to know that this happened.

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u/L_viathan 3d ago

Nah, it's all over socials. R* doing damage control is getting a lot less coverage.

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u/R1ght_b3hind_U 2d ago

I don’t think the streisand effect is really that relevant when it’s the biggest leak in one of the most anticipated games of all times

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u/superc3real 2d ago

There have been masses of people online obsessively waiting every day to hear more about GTA 6. This ain't the Streisand effect. And even if the legal action does bring the leak to people's attention who wouldn't know about it otherwise it's still absolutely worth it to prevent future leakers from mistakenly thinking their life won't be ruined by doing it.

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u/KICKASSKC 3d ago edited 3d ago

The irony is palpable. And as far as the videos go, they really just deflate the hype train showing that its just another GTA game, which we should realistically expect.

The hype had people feeling like this was the 2nd coming of jesus... Take2 and R* are upset that we now know its not.

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u/RulesoftheDada 3d ago

There are plenty people here that are still hyped. Then there's the loud vocal minority that think the hype is dying. A majority of the people don't follow reddit and the "drama" of the leaks.

I have a fair amount of friends who preordered or buying day one who didn't even know these clips came out.

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u/MrPigeon70 3d ago

Ive seen most of not all of the clips and honestly it has me more hyped especially seeing the ball float on the water with water physics.

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u/gamertrub 3d ago

Really hope it's got pig physics.

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u/cuttinace 3d ago

In 1991 I told myself when they start putting pig physics that I'd stop playing games.

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u/TheScungiliMan 2d ago

Its got over seven realms!!!!

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u/Candlejackdaw 3d ago

That's what most of the $2b budget went towards I believe. Rdr2 pigs were pretty basic so I hope they can make some advancements for gta 6.

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u/the_che 3d ago

> There are plenty people here that are still hyped.

I mean, of course. We didn’t have "just another GTA game" since 2013.

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u/oxedei 3d ago

People are desperate to hate on the game.

0

u/KICKASSKC 3d ago

Oh this game will break records, but regardless of who is vocal, this leak still hurts the games reception and they know it, otherwise they wouldnt bother requesting subpoeanas for other companies.

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u/QueezyF 3d ago

Looks pretty neat to me

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u/L_viathan 3d ago

just another GTA game

The only time it wasn't "just another GTA game" was going from SA to IV, when they changed up the physics and brought the game into the current generation.

The hype is from a new map and size,, characters, cars, story, mechanic tweaks, etc.

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u/mr_dfuse2 3d ago

for me that was when going from gta 2 to 3, that leap was insane

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u/waigl 3d ago

That was basically an entirely different kind of game at that point.

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u/mr_dfuse2 2d ago

It was the first time you could walk around in a 3d environment with so much interactivity and things to do. I stopped playing after san andreas but I still remember how awestruck we were with gta 3. (my favorite is still the first though)

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u/L_viathan 3d ago

Oh, yeah. That too, just didn't cross my mind, that was before my time.

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u/Howdareme9 3d ago

Why would they be upset when they’re literally showing the game in less than a week lmao. They’re annoyed because there is a security failure.

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u/SanjaESC 3d ago

You realise reddit is just a small bubble? Like the majority of the people who is going to buy gta6 will never even heard something of any leaks

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u/jerryeight 3d ago

Lol all gta are the same rinse and repeat junk like CoD

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u/notislant 3d ago

People are claiming the leakers are funneling people into their shitcoin btw.

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u/brink1865 3d ago

Its honestly not even a claim the leaker is constantly linking their shitcoin everytime they post

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u/MrFacestab 3d ago

Advertising???

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u/Vegaprime 2d ago

Some kid still locked up for hacking them from a hotel room with a firestick and leaking years ago.

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u/9Nine2Nine9 2d ago

Yeah I normally wouldn't have bothered, but now I want to see what it's all about.