Thursday, August 20th 2026
GTA VI Leaks Seemingly Cost Take-Two $2 Billion in Value
Over the course of the week of August 17, there have been several leaks purporting to show in-game content from recent builds of GTA VI from a leaker who claims to have actual hands-on access to a pre-release version of the game. According to Yahoo! Finance data, following the leaks, Take-Two's share price fell by roughly $15.29 per share compared to the Monday before the first leaks—this translated to a loss of $2.83 billion in market cap or a 2.54% loss in value over the course of the five days prior to publishing.
Take-Two has been working hard to take down the leaked content using DMCA notices, which includes videos showing NPC interactions, the full game map, and videos depicting actual gameplay and in-game mechanics in the pre-release build. Curiously, the leaker, Cyberleek, is reportedly targeting what they call anti-consumerism on the part of Rockstar and game publishers in general, with three commandments on the Cyberleek site demanding an end to digital pre-orders and "fake single-player DLC, as well as the preservation of single-player content.While it's difficult to be 100% certain these leaks are genuine, the reaction from Take-Two Interactive lends credence to the leaker's claims, and the most recent batches of leaks showing gameplay appear to prove that the leaker has access to a playable build of the game, again suggesting authenticity.
Cyberleek's full manifesto reads:
Sources:
Cyberleek, Insider Gaming, Yahoo! Finances
Take-Two has been working hard to take down the leaked content using DMCA notices, which includes videos showing NPC interactions, the full game map, and videos depicting actual gameplay and in-game mechanics in the pre-release build. Curiously, the leaker, Cyberleek, is reportedly targeting what they call anti-consumerism on the part of Rockstar and game publishers in general, with three commandments on the Cyberleek site demanding an end to digital pre-orders and "fake single-player DLC, as well as the preservation of single-player content.While it's difficult to be 100% certain these leaks are genuine, the reaction from Take-Two Interactive lends credence to the leaker's claims, and the most recent batches of leaks showing gameplay appear to prove that the leaker has access to a playable build of the game, again suggesting authenticity.
Cyberleek's full manifesto reads:
CYBERLEEK was born in the networks. It has seen what gaming can be at its best, and it has watched what the industry did to it. Slowly. Methodically. One monetization scheme at a time.
Publishers sell licenses and call them purchases. They ship unfinished games and call them living services. They lock content on discs and call it DLC. They kill games and keep the money. Every year anti-consumerism tightens its grip, and every year gamers get less for what they pay.
To fight this war, CYBERLEEK is raising funds for a secret project. The specifics cannot be revealed yet; showing the cards to the big corporations would only give them time to build their defenses. Let it be absolutely clear: this is not a cash grab. Funding is directed toward the infrastructure needed to strike, as well as the security and protection required to withstand the inevitable corporate counterattacks.
CYBERLEEK has been patient. That patience is over. What follows are three commandments. If CYBERLEEK targets a publisher, it is because that publisher broke one. CYBERLEEK will not stop until they issue a public statement and apology with a concrete commitment to be better. Words are not enough; restitution is mandatory.
Commandment I: Thou Shalt Not Sell Digital Preorders
No consumer shall pay for a game through digital storefronts before release and independent review. Physical preorders for tangible media remain permitted.
Preorders were not created for gamers. They were created because physical discs had manufacturing limits. In digital distribution, there is no inventory. There is no stock shortage. A digital copy cannot sell out. Yet publishers kept the preorder system and stripped away its only consumer benefit. Now gamers pay early and receive nothing in return except a countdown timer and a cosmetic skin.
If publishers want revenue before launch, they can press discs. Print boxes. Put them on shelves. Earn that money through physical production.
Commandment II: Thou Shalt Not Sell Fake Single-Player DLC
No publisher shall sell access to single-player content already present in the base game files the consumer purchased. This means no unlock keys, no 1 MB placeholder files, no toggling a variable from locked to unlocked for content already on the disc or in the download.
When someone pays USD 70+ for a game, they bought the data. All of it. Selling them a file that flips locked = true to locked = false for a single-player mission, character, weapon, or story chapter is charging them twice for the same product.
Commandment III: Thou Shalt Preserve Single-Player Content
Any game featuring single-player content must include an offline fallback state. When server support ends, the publisher must release a final patch that unlocks all single-player content for local, indefinite play.
The Crew had a single-player campaign. People paid full price. Then Ubisoft shut down the servers and the entire game died—including the solo content. No refund. No patch. No alternative. Single-player content depends on one thing: the hardware the consumer already owns. Bricking it when servers go down is theft.
Final Word
These three commandments are the floor—not the ceiling—of what is acceptable. If publishers violate them, they will be targeted. CYBERLEEK will continue to disrupt their operations until they issue a public statement and apology with a concrete commitment to fix the harm they caused. No private negotiations. No quiet settlements. The public sees it, or the "leeks" do not stop.
Publishers should beware. If CYBERLEEK can reach Rockstar, no one is safe. This is a message to all big corpo: behave, or be the next target.
This is the CYBERLEEK Edict, and it is non-negotiable.


52 Comments on GTA VI Leaks Seemingly Cost Take-Two $2 Billion in Value
In fact if Take Two is absolutely certain at this point, that the GTA VI will be a massive success, a success that no one else is expecting, they can take advantage of the situation and buy their own shares at this lower price and sell after the release of the game making REAL profit.
If someone wants to preorder digital, why stop them? This is just taking away consumer choice more than anything. I have $70 today. In one month I won't have $70 to spare. Let me go ahead and spend my $70 now so that I know I will have a game to play next month instead of likely spending it on something else. Usually, not all the time, you get like a preorder skin, extra credits or something. The other big thing you get, is the ability to start playing it at midnight or whatever. If I preorder a physical copy that gets delivered, I have to wait until 5PM as that is when the mail man shows up. Or I have to wait until 7AM when Walmart opens so that I can pick it up, spend an hour driving to go get it.
#3 is incomplete.
The servers were shut down 10 years ago. I just bought this game. Who makes sure it gets updated so that I can solo offline? Solo play should ALWAYS be available offline day 1.
I do like #2. But it likely doesn't take into consideration variations. Games are constantly updated so what data are you actually paying for. I want to keep that bug! I paid for it! Don't remove it with an update! It makes sense though for games that have DLC fully baked into the game and ready to go on day 1. How often does this happen though?
Bummer. Dang... Guess they'll have to like---I don't know---release the game or something. Oof.
And what is the point of #2 when they can easily satisfy this demand by removing the already finished content from the base game, and then make it immediately available via separate download? The result is exactly the same-- A) Content is fully finished and included in the game behind a pay 'toggle' --not allowed says the hacker. B) Content is fully finished and included behind a pay download button. Either way they are selling the same fully finished Day 1 content for extra money, except apparently one method is bad, and one method is acceptable.
See their point on the first one, pre orders for a download, really FFS,
Second point, Smart people will not be buying it until it's on sale.
Just throwing it out there..
Digital download pre orders are plain stupid. The bigger point is that the ultra greed, rinsing consumers, gaming (and general) era starting to get some serious backlash to it.
I know I won't be buying GTA VI as I am boycotting all of the anti-consumer companies out there.
In other related GTA VI news, the U.S. Army in the state of Georgia is trying to get their enlisted to re-enlist by dangling a 4-day pass to play GTA VI when it's released if they sign back up for 2-6 years. Not even a full copy, just a 4-day pass, haha. It's similar to the infamous corporate pizza party for doing a "good job". Seriously...
I just hope they won't go as far as leaking the ending of the game's story though, I can't side with spoilerers
Not so scary, and one way or the other it will all be OK, but has no one seriously thought about how GTA5 is already hacked and cracked and essentially open source st this point?
A physical copy is a big issue with games anymore, discs fet scratched, memory fails. USB? But third partys have already alllowed that.