The group behind the ongoing Grand Theft Auto VI leaks has found a new way to monetise its activity, asking for $169,000 in cryptocurrency from anyone who wants to get in touch with it.
CyberLeek has added a “contact” tab to its decentralised websites, encouraging visitors to advertise on the leaked GTA VI material the group continues to publish.
“Options include buying advertisements (such as watermarks on videos) or ordering customised game material tailored to specific brands (including sexual content). All prices, terms and deliverables are discussed privately via Session,” the group states. Session is an end-to-end encrypted messaging platform.
There is a catch: the group demands a “contact fee” that requires a donation of 400 Monero, or roughly $169,000. “The Monero transfer functions as a contact fee that guarantees CYBERLEEK will respond in order to begin the conversation,” the group says.
A high-risk payment
It is doubtful anyone would be willing to send such a large sum. The other issue is that doing so could expose a user to legal scrutiny and lawsuits, given that the money goes to a group known for leaking copyrighted material.
Even so, the GTA VI leaks may already amount to a profitable crypto scheme for CyberLeek. From the start, the group has been soliciting donations to its “meme coin” on the Solana blockchain, leading some critics to describe the whole operation as a scam. Amid the rapid rise in the meme coin’s popularity, there are indications that CyberLeek has earned $40,000 to $60,000 from transaction fees alone.
Leaks continue as Rockstar stays silent
To stay in the spotlight, CyberLeek keeps leaking new material from the unreleased game, which effectively confirms that the group most likely stole a test build of GTA VI. It is not clear whether developer Rockstar Games suffered a breach, or whether the leak came from a game tester or a former employee.
The most recent leaked video shows the main character visiting a strip club. CyberLeek is also threatening to publish gameplay videos that would reveal the story. To do that, the group is again asking for donations through its meme coin.
Rockstar Games has not commented on the situation so far. The studio’s parent company has issued subpoenas to Discord, Microsoft and now Google and X/Twitter, in an apparent effort to uncover details about those responsible for the leaks. It is unclear, however, whether the CyberLeek group ever used any of those platforms.
With some irony, the leaks may end up generating greater hype for GTA VI. A former technical director at Rockstar North, a Rockstar Games studio based in Edinburgh, noted: “90% of future players don’t spend their time online looking for video clips. They don’t have the time and they don’t want spoilers.”
