Take-Two goes back to Discord for data on the GTA 6 leakers
A fresh subpoena in a case that has been running since 2022, and a reminder of how differently Rockstar treats a leak from a trailer.
By Wes Calloway
Take-Two has asked for another subpoena for Discord user data on people who might be connected to Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks. It's the latest step in an effort that's been running in one form or another since the 2022 breach.
The 2022 breach
In September 2022, roughly ninety clips of in-development Grand Theft Auto 6 footage were published online after an intrusion into Rockstar's internal systems. It's still one of the biggest leaks the medium's ever had, and the material's still circulating four years later, often passed off as the finished game.
It isn't. Most of it shows unfinished work from a build that's now years out of date, with placeholder assets and systems that have since changed or been cut.
Why Take-Two's still chasing it
There are two reasons, and the second one matters more.
The obvious one is deterrence. A publisher that lets a breach go without consequence invites the next one, and Take-Two's a public company with a fiduciary argument for going after it.
The less obvious one is that leaked development footage does real damage in a way finished-game leaks don't. When unfinished work gets judged as finished work, a studio ends up defending decisions it hasn't made yet, and the 2022 clips set off a lot of commentary about visual quality that was comparing a work in progress to a shipped game.
Look at what happened next. The game those clips predicted isn't the game Rockstar has since shown, and almost none of the confident readings from 2022 survived contact with the actual trailers.
The same company gave a dying fan early access
This sits awkwardly next to the other Rockstar story this month.
The company chasing Discord records four years after a breach is the same one that quietly gave a terminally ill fan early access under a non-disclosure agreement, with no announcement and nothing to gain. Both are true, and they come from the same instinct: total control over when and how the work gets seen.
One looks ruthless and one looks kind, but it's the same policy underneath.
Why we don't host leaks
It sets the boundary we work inside, and it's why this site doesn't host leaked material.
Our vehicle database splits 92 entries four ways by how firmly each one's known, and the rumour column is empty on purpose: not a single vehicle on it exists only in a leaked list. The frame browser publishes 88 shots of both trailers, all of them from Rockstar's own published masters, each linked back to the second it was taken from.
It's a slower way to build a reference than reposting a four-year-old clip. It's also the only version of it that won't need retracting.
Where the case stands
A subpoena's a request for records, and it isn't a finding. Take-Two hasn't alleged wrongdoing by any named individual in this filing, and Discord hasn't said what it'll produce.
So for now it's reported: the filing exists and it's been covered, and nothing further has been established.
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