Rockstar Games has officially confirmed that GTA 6 is in development, while specifics regarding the game and its release date remain few. While fans are awaiting one of the biggest launches of the century there have been many leaks of the game.
In September 2022, major chunks of GTA 6 were leaked. On September 18, 2022, an anonymous hacker known as “teapotuberhacker” uploaded various clips from the future Grand Theft Auto game and offered to sell source codes. A few days later, it was found that the hacker was a teenager from London named Arion Kurtaj.
Rockstar Games and its parent company, Take-Two Interactive, filed a lawsuit right away in response to the occurrence. This led to the revelation of even more vicious acts perpetrated by the hacker.
A Message from Rockstar Games pic.twitter.com/T4Wztu8RW8
— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) September 19, 2022
Prosecutors claim that Arion Kurtaj not only hacked Rockstar Games’ servers and released GTA 6 gameplay footage, but he also threatened studio employees with publicizing the game’s source codes.
Did the GTA 6 leaker face any charges?
Arion Kurtaj was aged 17 when he was a part of the Lapsus$ hacking gang, which allegedly leaked the GTA 6 clips. Arion was accompanied by another teenager who is aged 17 who’s still unidentified, despite not being accused of hacking Rockstar Games, has been charged with two charges of extortion, two counts of fraud, and three computer-related offenses.
According to Reuters, the teenager has been “assessed by psychiatrists as unfit to stand trial,” and a jury will not decide if Kurtaj is guilty, but rather whether or not they committed the offenses.
GTA 6 Hacker is back… 😵😂 #gta6 #gta
He’s getting read to leak more prolly pic.twitter.com/1JMKT5xFpy
— Usman (@SKizzleAXE) July 16, 2023
Twelve offenses have been brought against the hacker, including six counts of computer abuse, two counts of fraud, and three counts of extortion.
While Kurtaj was not identified at the time, Uber revealed in a blog post that it was working with the FBI and the US Department of Justice to investigate its own data breaches and that they thought the same hacker was responsible for the Rockstar breaches.
GTA 6’s release date is unknown, although it might be as soon as next year. Meanwhile, a jury will try to decide if Kurtaj is responsible for the alleged hacking, but we don’t know if any judgment will be issued.