GTA VI TRAILER LEAKED

 In Short

Hacker who leaked GTA VI gameplay has been sentenced to prison.

The videos were leaked using an Amazon Fire TV stick.

90 videos of the game had been leaked by the hacker.

Long before GTA VI trailer was officially released by Rockstar, rumours about the game were doing rounds on the internet. While some were reporting that the much-anticipated game will be made official soon, others were talking about a possible female character. Rumours of this female character strengthened even more when a gameplay video from GTA VI was leaked online, showing a female protagonist looting restaurants.

And now, the hacker behind the gameplay video leak has been sentenced to spend his life in a hospital prison, a report by the BBC states. Moreover, the hacker leaked these videos using a hotel TV, his mobile phone, and an Amazon Fire Stick.

GTA VI hacker sentenced to prison life

The BBC report states that the 18-year-old hacker, part of the notorious international group Lapsus$, has received an indefinite hospital order after leaking unreleased clips of Grand Theft Auto 6. Arion Kurtaj, hailing from Oxford and diagnosed with autism, had earlier played a key role in the cyber-attacks on tech giants like Uber, Nvidia, and Rockstar Games, collectively causing nearly USD 10 million in damages.

The judge, acknowledging Kurtaj's prowess in cyber-crime and recognizing the inherent risks to public safety, handed down the indefinite hospital order. This decision means Kurtaj will remain in a secure hospital for life, contingent on periodic assessments by medical professionals to evaluate the ongoing risk he poses.

During the proceedings, it was revealed that Kurtaj, while in custody, displayed violent behavior with numerous reports of injuries and property damage. Due to his acute autism, doctors deemed him unfit to stand trial, prompting the jury to assess his actions without considering criminal intent.

A mental health assessment presented during the sentencing hearing emphasized Kurtaj's continued intent to engage in cyber-crime, portraying him as highly motivated. Despite being on bail for hacking Nvidia and BT/EE, and under police protection at a Travelodge hotel, Kurtaj managed to carry out the GTA VI hack. Confiscated laptop notwithstanding, he breached Rockstar, the creators of GTA, using an Amazon Firestick, his hotel TV, and a mobile phone.

In this breach, Kurtaj leaked 90 unreleased clips of Grand Theft Auto 6, posting them alongside source code on a forum under the username TeaPotUberHacker. The hacker, undeterred by previous arrests, issued an ultimatum to Rockstar through the company's internal Slack messaging system, threatening to release the source code if not contacted within 24 hours. Following the hack, he was promptly rearrested and detained until trial.

GTA VI trailer launched by Rockstar

On December 5, Rockstar Games decided to drop a huge surprise for gamers across the world. The trailer of GTA VI was dropped on YouTube more than 12 hours before it was supposed to launch as it got leaked before time.

In a tweet, Rockstar Games announced that since their trailer had been leaked online, people should head over to their official channel and "watch the real thing."

"Our trailer has leaked so please watch the real thing on YouTube," the tweet read.

Rumours had earlier said that GTA VI will be launching in 2024. However, that won't be the case. Rockstar Games, at the end of the trailer, revealed that the game will be out in 2025. Hence, players will still have to wait for over a year (even two, if the game comes out towards the end of 2025) to experience the GTA VI world.