Grand Theft Auto VIis riding a titanic wave of hype right into the annals of gaming history, and its release is still nearly a year away. But that’s also the cause of frequent leaks that accompany the title’s development.
Luminary publisher Rockstar Games’ current project faces off against insider information, data miners, hackers, leaked documents, and more. And while a few of these leaks were a splash in the pond, others caused a tsunami of press coverage and speculation. Rockstar Games and its parent company Take-Two Interactive were left with egg on their faces multiple times.
Each of those incidents is chronicled in the timeline below with details regarding how the leaks transpired, and the fallout they caused.
Inside Gaming’s inside info on GTA VI
June 20, 2025
YouTube channel Inside Gaming claims it receivedinformationdetailing the setting, release date, and protagonist ofGTA VIfrom an inside source. The informant’s identity remained anonymous to avoid any potential backlash from the leak.
The video makes several claims, including:
Gaming journalist Brian Gaar, the info’s recipient, said the leak caused a ruffling of feathers at Rockstar. According to Gaar’s interview on theMarch 12, 2024 episode of Inside Games’ podcast, the studio went into lockdown in search of the leaker. Later, Gaar received a phone call from a Rockstar vice president asking for his source at the company.
Take-Two’s leaked GTA VI document
June 20, 2025
Reddit user Fresh305954 posts that a location scout asked permission to take pictures of their workplace in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami. The scout claimed she worked for Rockstar and the photos were for reference. Days later, the Redditor posted a picture of the agreement between the scout and the manager of the business.
Contact info in the agreement referenced Leah Sokolowski, a committee member at Location Managers Guild International, who worked on several Hollywood films. In an interview on theMay 21, 2019 episode of the Film Florida podcast, Leah mentioned “a change in the types of productions coming to our state (Florida)”. She elaborated she was currently working for a major player in the digital media industry, which hired her to conduct site tours and visits in multiple areas of Florida and other southeastern states. She was unable to identify her employer due to a non-disclosure agreement but revealed enough info to deduce that the employer was Take-Two.
Tom Henderson’s leak video on GTA VI
July 09, 2025
Insider Gaming ownerTom Henderson uploads a YouTube videoclaiming he received the following information from an inside source:
LAPSUS$ GTA VI leak costs Take-Two $2 Billion
July 31, 2025
Arion Kurtaj, an 18-year-old member of the international hacker gang LAPSUS$, leaks 50 hours ofGTA VIdevelopment footage, over 90 files containing unreleased assets for the game, and its source code onto the internet. Before the leak, he attempted to extort Rockstar Games financially.
Kurtaj accomplished this feat by compiling emails and phone numbers of Rockstar employees and contacting Rockstar’s staff support, pretending to be an employee who forgot their password. He infiltrates several employee accounts, accessing the studio’s private Slack channels, including theGTA VIdevelopment channel. After the leak, Take-Two’s stock shares plummet 13%, causing a $2 billion loss. Rockstar also claims to suffer a $5 million loss, along with losing thousands of staff hours dealing with the fallout.
Kurtaj was involved in previous LAPSUS$ cyber attacks on Uber, Nvidia, Microsoft, numerous law enforcement departments, the Brazilian Ministry of Health, and personal crypto wallets, extorting over $10 million from his victims. He managed to hack Rockstar while on bail under police supervision.
Deemed unfit to stand trial due to a severe form of autism, Kurtaj was sentenced to a secure hospital for life unless considered no longer a threat to society. However, Kurtaj’s release seems unlikely due to his admission that he will continue to commit cybercrime if freed.
The information leaked by Kurtaj was compiled into a 60-page Google Drive document, which can be viewedhere.
GTA VI Map Leak
July 18, 2025
Rockstar North head of development Aaron Garbut’s son uploads a 13-second clip to TikTok showing footage of a panning aerial view ofGTA VI. The original video was removed from the site but remains viewable on other accounts.
The son of aaron garbut leaked this.. Pretty horrible to be honest, as i said (i am still not sure if this is real, i feel bad for rockstar and for aaron if this is real).#GTAVI#gta5#gtavitrailer#rockstar#gta6#gta6trailer
GTA VI Trailer Leak
June 28, 2025
Just one day before its scheduled release, Twitter user @Gta6trailerleak posts theGTA VItrailer in its entirety, with a massive buy bitcoin stamp over the video. Despite initial skepticism towards the video’s veracity, Rockstar confirms the leak within the hour on Twitter, releasing the official video to YouTube early. The leak hardly impacted the trailer itself, which still broke numerous YouTube records and had over 93 million views on its first day.
Currently, the trailer was the last major leak, but with almost a year before the game’s release, another incident may occur. Although I doubt anything can sinkGTA VIat this point.
