00:00Oh dear, it's not a good week to be Rockstar Games, is it? Not only have they been slaving
00:05away on GTA 6 for what feels like decades at this point, with more delays, setbacks
00:10and budget overruns than a Scottish government construction project, but just as they're
00:15finally gearing up to release the most anticipated game of the millennium, a group of absolute
00:20mad lads hacked their way into Rockstar servers and leaked footage of the game online, threatening
00:26to spoil the ending, and if the latest revelations are true, they've even gotten their hands
00:30on an almost complete build of the game that they could release any time they want, if their
00:35demands are not met. Make no mistake, dear viewer, this is one of the most blatant, outrageous
00:40and fucking hilarious acts of video game espionage in the whole history of the industry. I mean,
00:48the game's had a long and sordid history of third party data breaches and unsanctioned
00:53leaks, dating all the way back to 2022 when more than 90 videos and images from an early
00:58build of the game were leaked online. The hacker responsible was soon caught and earned himself
01:02a stint in jail for his efforts, but this was just the beginning of their woes.
01:06By the end of the following year, the first trailer for the game leaked about 24 hours ahead
01:11of schedule, forcing Rockstar to scramble to release their own official version to try
01:15and get ahead of it. The damage was done though, and it was becoming pretty obvious that their
01:19data security was about as impregnable as a college girl on spring break.
01:24This year though, the shit finally got real. In April of 2026, Rockstar confirmed their
01:30data had been accessed by a third party breach yet again, but insisted that everything was
01:34just fine.
01:36You sure about that? You sure about that?
01:40As it turns out, everything was not fine though, because on August 18th, two videos were leaked
01:45online, one featuring the protagonist Jason playing basketball outside his home, and the
01:50other showing him driving a car and attacking an NPC. The full game map also released around
01:55the same time.
01:56This was just the beginning though, the following day, more gameplay and cutscene footage leaked
02:01online and spread like wildfire quicker than Rockstar could issue takedown requests.
02:06But who exactly was behind this dastardly scheme you ask? Well, a hacker group calling themselves
02:11CyberLeak, who used the media Firestorm to release a detailed manifesto of their demands, which
02:17includes 1. No more digital pre-orders, just physical discs. 2. No digitally locked content
02:23that you have to pay to access later. 3. A guarantee that games will always function offline even
02:29after their servers have been taken down.
02:31And believe me, these guys are not fucking around. If Rockstar didn't agree to their demands
02:36immediately, they promised to release more footage from the game, which they did the following
02:40day. They even have a website where users can buy a cryptocurrency they created and use
02:46it to vote on what footage gets released next.
02:49HA HA! Jesus Christ, you have to respect the absolute brass balls on these guys.
02:55But it was the leaks on August 20th that really got people interested, because this wasn't
02:59some random cutscene or pre-recorded piece of promo material. In this one, they used the
03:04main character to shoot bullet holes into a wall, spelling out the word LEAK, which can only
03:09mean one thing. They have an actual playable build of the game in their hands.
03:14OOOOH SHIT MOTHERF*** Not just that, but they're rumored to have
03:18the full ending of the game as well, and they could release it anytime they want, potentially
03:23spoiling the entire story for the most anticipated video game of all time.
03:27I'm screwed.
03:28I have never seen something of this scale in my entire life. This is the kind of situation
03:33that could ruin companies, but here's the bigger issue. If they can do this to a developer
03:38with the resources of Rockstar, they can do it to pretty much anyone.
03:42And part of me can't help but wonder, was this inevitable? Was the game's industry always
03:47heading towards a standoff like this, where their relentless drive towards live service,
03:52microtransaction, digital-only rental agreements with constant updates and expansion packs would
03:57eventually push gamers so far they'd fight back the only way they knew how? I've spoken
04:02before about the industry's move away from physical media and into a digital hellscape
04:06where nobody really owns anything, access is contingent on a constant treadmill of updates
04:11and costly DLC, and games companies can shut down your access to any of their products that
04:16you paid for anytime they want by saying
04:18I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further.
04:22Yeah, it's a bit shit, to be honest. I mean, for legal reasons, I guess I have to condemn
04:27a group like CyberLeak because breaking the law is bad. But at the same time, I can't
04:32help but wonder how many people out there actually support what they're doing. And more importantly,
04:37just how bad this is gonna get. One way or another, the next few days are going to prove
04:42very interesting indeed. Anyway, that's all I've got for today. Go away now.
04:49I'll see you next time.
