Take-Two Interactive shed roughly $2.83 billion in market value in under two days after new GTA 6 footage suggested the leaker Cyberleek is playing a live build of Rockstars unreleased game.
Shares have since clawed back part of that loss. Meanwhile, malware disguised as the leaked build now circulates on piracy sites.
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What the New GTA 6 Footage Actually Shows
Cyberleek has posted clips and images across several days. One video shows the character Jason spraying the word LEEK onto a wall with bullets. Therefore, the account appears to control a playable build rather than leftover test material.
Other clips show a plane flight across Vice City and a cutscene about VPN use. Forbes reported that the build likely dates from 2025. Rockstar and Take-Two have stayed silent, however.
The group ties the leaks to three demands. It wants a disc release, no paywalled solo DLC, and full offline access. Those terms work as conditions for stopping the drops. One report framed the campaign as an attempt to extort Rockstar over its all-digital plan. Sony met a similar revolt during its PlayStation disc backlash in July.
That consumer-rights posture carries a commercial edge. Cyberleek stamps its releases with cryptocurrency advertisements and recently ran a paid poll. Reporters tracking the drops also flagged links pointing to an apparent crypto scam. The pattern reads less like protest and more like a monetized leak operation.
Rockstar still targets Nov. 19 for launch. Take-Two confirmed that release date in a July filing. An extended GTA 6 look also premieres on Netflix on Aug. 27 at 3 p.m. ET, six days from now.
Why Shares Slid, Then Steadied
TTWO traded at $248.13 before the leaks spread on Aug. 18. The stock then slid to $232.84, a drop of $15.29 a share. That move cut about $2.83 billion from Take-Twos market value, by one tally.
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The stock later closed at $240.15, up 1.31%, and TTWO trades 6.81% lower this year. Roughly $1.5 billion of the loss is still outstanding. Shares also fell as pre-orders opened in June.
GTA 6 publisher Take-Two stock chart. Source: TradingView
Investors have seen this film before. A 2022 breach pushed roughly 90 Rockstar clips online, yet sales never suffered.
Fans face the sharper risk. No playable GTA 6 build sits on piracy sites, despite the download links now spreading there.
Malware disguised as leaked GTA 6 copies are popping up on piracy sites. https://t.co/egYtxyAML7 pic.twitter.com/wcXWva3g2P
— IGN (@IGN) August 20, 2026
Those files are malware. NordVPN told IGN the fake downloads have circulated all year and surged alongside the new leaks.
Skipping the download links is the only safe move. Similarly, a fake app drained a wallet last week after reaching Apples store.
Rockstar‘s silence leaves the true scope of the breach unclear. Next week’s Netflix reveal gives the studio a chance to reset the story.