Take-Two Interactive has initiated legal action to unmask the individual or individuals responsible for leaking Grand Theft Auto 6 gameplay footage. The publisher has filed multiple subpoenas in federal court, demanding information from both Microsoft and Discord. These legal requests are part of an ongoing investigation into the "CyberLeek" account, which is believed to be behind the unauthorized distribution of the game's videos.
The subpoenas, filed in the New York Southern District Court, are issued under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Take-Two is seeking identifying information for all user accounts associated with several Discord servers mentioned in the filings. Additionally, the company is requesting internal business and investigative records from Microsoft pertaining to its own inquiry into the "CyberLeek" account. The filings also call for any Grand Theft Auto, Rockstar, or "CyberLeek" content stored on the OneDrive accounts of Discord members involved.
According to the legal documents, the "copyrighted material includes but is not limited to audio visual content, artwork, images, dialogue, or other creative elements." Take-Two has submitted a sworn declaration confirming that the DMCA subpoena's purpose is to acquire the identity of the alleged infringer(s) and that this information will be used solely to protect the company's rights.
One of the Discord servers named in the filing is 'discord.gg/darkviperau,' identified as the DarkViperAU editors' server. DarkViperAU is the online alias of Matthew "Matt" Judge, a prominent GTA content creator with a substantial following on YouTube. Judge has recently published analyses of the leaked GTA 6 videos. Responding to the subpoena's mention of his name, Judge stated via Twitter that he has no knowledge of the leaks and that the server in question is not his editors' Discord. He also noted that no leaked clips are present in his own Discord servers, expressing confusion over his inclusion in the filing.
The legal action comes as the leaker continues to release further GTA 6 gameplay videos, with a sixth apparent video surfacing on August 21. This latest footage reportedly features supercar gameplay and includes a watermark stating, "HIGHER MARKET CAP = MORE LEEKS." This watermark has been traced by a GTA fan to a cryptocurrency exchange based in Seychelles, which could potentially aid in identifying the leaker.
Neither Rockstar Games nor Take-Two Interactive has officially commented on the leaks. This development precedes the release of "Grand Theft Auto 6: An Extended Look," a timed exclusive scheduled to debut on Netflix on Thursday, August 27, before becoming available on other platforms like YouTube.