The GTA VI preview on Netflix is already a hit, despite the Cyberleek leak

According to Newzoo, in the first week of digital pre-sales alone, the game is estimated to have generated around $180 million across the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italia and Spain – the best start to a pre-order campaign ever recorded by the company. Based on the sales trends observed, Newzoo estimates that GTA VI could reach between $3.3bn and $5.2bn in cumulative global sales by the end of its launch week. This is a forecast, not revenue already secured, but it gives an idea of the scale of the event.

For Sony, this could be a breath of fresh air, coming just as the PlayStation 5 is reaching its peak and is the subject of much debate. The news that Sony is moving away from physical media (game discs) has sparked a backlash from long-standing fans, some of whom are even prepared to boycott the release of the most eagerly awaited game of all time. This is particularly true within the video game industry.

Adding to the anticipation is a hacker who is threatening to spoil the party for GTA. He goes by the name of CyberLeek, which is the name that appeared on the unauthorised gameplay footage that has been circulating online over the last few days. The identity of the person behind the pseudonym has not been confirmed. The material attributed to GTA VI shows gameplay sequences, characters and settings, and began circulating on the very eve of the Netflix presentation. Rockstar has described the leak as ‘heartbreaking’ for the development team.

The matter has also reached the courts. Take-Two has requested information from Microsoft and Discord in an attempt to trace the source of the leaks. The requests relate to data associated with the accounts and servers through which the material is believed to have passed. The deadline specified in the requests is 4 September.

CyberLeek, meanwhile, is attempting to present itself as more than just a leaker. Alongside the release of the videos, it has put forward a sort of manifesto criticising certain industry practices, ranging from exclusively digital pre-orders to the management of paid content and games that become unusable once the servers are shut down. At the same time, it has promoted its own memecoin, a factor that inevitably makes it harder to distinguish between its stated activism and the pursuit of visibility and speculation. Furthermore, there is no public evidence that all the allegations levelled at Rockstar in the manifesto correspond to the game’s actual commercial features.

For Rockstar, this is a particularly unpleasant case of déjà vu. Back in 2022, a massive leak had already revealed a still-embryonic version of GTA VI to the world. Today, the stakes are even higher: it is not just a matter of protecting the code or a few narrative surprises, but of managing a multi-billion-dollar marketing campaign. It is no coincidence that, in an official statement released a few days ago, the company broke its silence on the leaks. It described the unauthorised dissemination of confidential material as ‘heart-wrenching’, emphasising its disappointment that the reveal had taken place under far from ideal conditions after years of hard work. It also apologised to the community for the long wait and for its silence, and expressed regret at the risk that spoilers might spoil the surprise for players, urging the public to be patient so they can enjoy the definitive experience. November is still a long way off, but the GTA event already seems to have become a ‘GTA-style’ event.