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Cyberleek, the group or person (it’s not clear which) behind today’s big Grand Theft Auto 6 leak, claims it’s not just doing it for the lulz. In a manifesto calling out industry practices it finds objectionable, Cyberleek warned that it will continue targeting publishers who violate its edicts.
“Publishers sell licenses and call them purchases,” the document states. “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.”
Cyberleek said it’s “raising funds for a secret project,” presumably through the sale of a memecoin—of course there’s a memecoin—which will be “directed toward the infrastructure needed to strike, as well as the security and protection required to withstand the inevitable corporate counterattacks.”
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They also listed three “commandments” in the manifesto—no digital preorders, no “fake” (ie, already part of the game data) singleplayer DLC, and mandatory “offline fallback states” for singleplayer games—and warned that publishers who violate them will be subject to sanction: “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.”
It’s all very dramatic in a “Remember, remember” way, and certainly overegged; there’s also an irony, perhaps unintentional, in holding forth on consumer rights while pumping crypto. Regardless of motivations, though, this is surely a headache Rockstar and Take-Two could do without. There’s been no public comment yet, but copyright strikes against the leaks have been flying fast and furious, rather strongly suggesting that these leaks are legit.
Cyberleek’s bravado may be its undoing (because isn’t that always the way) and its ability to follow through on its threats is obviously a big question. But with Grand Theft Auto 6 now just three months away from release on consoles—and the big Netflix reveal coming next week—it might be able to do some real damage before the curtain falls.
I’ve reached out to Take-Two and Rockstar for comment and will update if I receive a reply.
