Take-Two Interactive has won court approval in New York to obtain user data from Microsoft and Discord as it tries to identify those behind a series of leaks of the long-awaited game Grand Theft Auto VI, due for release on 19 November.
The US games company filed the requests on Thursday. Take-Two, the parent company of developer Rockstar Games, wants to identify three accounts on GitHub, owned by Microsoft, and Discord, where the leaked material was collected and shared.
It is also seeking the details of all members of three chat groups linked to the leaks.
Since Tuesday, gameplay clips and what appears to be the full map of the open-world game have been leaked online each day. The first official footage had reportedly been due to appear on 27 August in a full trailer on Netflix.
Take-Two and Rockstar had so far remained silent on whether the material was genuine. However, in asking for access to Microsoft and Discord user data, Take-Two has effectively confirmed that the circulated content infringes its copyright.
An anonymous source told Bloomberg on Friday that Rockstar still did not know who was responsible. It also remains unclear how the developer’s security was breached.
The leaked material has been published by CyberLeek, though it is not known whether that name refers to an individual or a group. It appears to have access to working versions of GTA VI.
In a manifesto, CyberLeek criticises the games industry’s shift away from physical copies towards digital versions sold under licence. It points, for example, to the fact that people who pre-order a “physical” copy of GTA VI will reportedly receive a box containing a download code rather than a disc.
CyberLeek has also launched a cryptocurrency to raise money for what it calls “a secret project”.
The development of GTA VI has already been delayed several times. The game was originally scheduled for release in autumn 2025.
Its predecessor, Grand Theft Auto V, was released in September 2013 and has sold 230 million copies worldwide. That makes it the second best-selling standalone title of all time, behind Minecraft.
Rockstar has faced a major leak before. In September 2022, a hacking group published dozens of GTA VI images and clips before the game had even been officially announced. After that breach, Rockstar had already tightened its security.
