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Rockstar takes GTA 6 leaker’s channels offline after they apparently record themselves playing the game

Dexerto – Games
PC Gamer
GameSpot
11outlets covering
23.8hspread over
+11hmedian lag
0.7outlets/hr now
TDGN Brief

Kotaku broke this story yesterday, and 10 more newsrooms have run it since — 11 in all, spread over 23.8 hours.

GameSpot was quickest to confirm, arriving 1.8 hours after Kotaku. Half the pack had the story within 11.4 hours — a slower burn than most front-page stories. The most recent pickup, Destructoid, landed 56 minutes ago.

Kotaku, GameSpot, TheGamer led the coverage; another 8 outlets have since picked it up. Destructoid was the latest arrival, 23.9 hours behind the break.

TDGN's index has been following this beat: Grand Theft Auto VI (267 stories tracked) across recent coverage — this story is currently the biggest of them.

  • First report: Kotaku, yesterday
  • 11 outlets over 23.8 hours · median lag 11.4 hours
  • 2 outlets joined in the last 3 hours
  • Beat: Grand Theft Auto VI (267 stories tracked)

This briefing is compiled automatically by TDGN’s newsroom systems from 11 outlets’ reports and TDGN’s own coverage tracking — no generative AI — and it updates as coverage develops. The outlets’ original reporting is linked below.

Who reported it, and when

  1. first Kotaku Fan Thinks They’ve Tracked Down The GTA 6 Leaker’s Crypto Wallet, And That It’s Only A Matter Of Time Before Rockstar Catches Them
  2. +2h GameSpot GTA 6 Leaker Has Not Been Identified Yet – Report
  3. +2h TheGamer GTA 6's Development Team Responds To The Game's Widespread Leaks
  4. +4h TheGamer GTA 6 Leaker Charging $162,000 Fee For Custom Gameplay Reveals
  5. +5h PC Gamer The GTA 6 leaker is selling ads now
  6. +6h PC Gamer Rockstar employees frustrated by GTA 6 leaks, though they may have only whet appetites for the reveal
  7. +17h Dexerto – Games Xbox responds after judge grants GTA 6 subpoena request
  8. +20h TheGamer GTA 6 Leaker Has Approval From One Of The Most Famous Hacking Groups
  9. +20h Kotaku GTA 6 Leaker Takes Fans To A Strip Club In Seventh Gameplay Dump
  10. +23h TheGamer Former Rockstar Developer Reacts To GTA 6 Leaks
  11. +24h Destructoid Rockstar takes GTA 6 leaker’s channels offline after they apparently record themselves playing the game

This page records how the games press covered one story. The reporting belongs to the outlets listed; every headline links to the original. Counts update as more outlets publish. The article itself follows below.

Hot11 outlets·0.7/hr nowtop 4%first: Kotaku

Rockstar takes GTA 6 leaker’s channels offline after they apparently record themselves playing the game

Rockstar Games, after enduring a leaker’s relentless onslaught for about a week, has finally managed to take their official channels down. This includes the leaker’s Telegram channel as well as their website, which, as of this article, remains offline.

This was first spotted by Polygon, which writes that the leaker’s site went down today, Aug. 22. The site, which we won’t provide here, currently returns a “blocked ID” message, saying it was blocked on request.

“Requested content blocked by this node’s content policy,” the note on the site reads.

Furthermore, it seems the Telegram channel used by the leaker is also down, with that service provider citing copyright infringement as the reason for the takedown.

GTA 6 August 2026 artwork
Image via Rockstar Games

It is currently unknown if the leaker has any alternate modes of communication, though today a clip emerged on an X account claiming to be them, with a recording of GTA 6‘s loading screen and the leaker’s PC, supposed to serve as proof that they do, indeed, have a full build of the game.

The account that first posted that seems to have been removed from X, though reuploads exist. Dozens of accounts carrying the same moniker as the leaker have appeared in the last week or so, so it’s hard to assume what’s real and what isn’t in a sea of fakers and copycats.

Nevertheless, the leaks have caused tremendous damage to Rockstar and Take-Two Interactive. The latter, which owns Rockstar Games, lost nearly $3 billion in valuation as the leaks started dropping. The company has since issued subpoena requests for Microsoft and Discord, which should help it find the culprit.

The post Rockstar takes GTA 6 leaker’s channels offline after they apparently record themselves playing the game appeared first on Destructoid.

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