Rockstar Games, the company behind the Grand Theft Auto series, experienced a grand theft of its own last month when an individual or group known as Cyberleek obtained what appeared to be a playable, although likely unfinished, build of the much-awaited Grand Theft Auto 6, three months before its official release.
Over roughly a week, Cyberleek released numerous clips from the game as part of what has largely been reported as a crypto scheme in which supporters could use a meme coin to vote for clips they wanted leaked.
At present, the leaks seem to have stopped and, despite Rockstar’s best efforts, Cyberleek remains at large.
Now, if you’ve never been a GTA fan, or lost interest in video games by the time you got your first real job, it’s easy to dismiss a story like this.
Having spent my prime gaming years shooting zombies, hopping on mushrooms, and taking a whip to Dracula’s minions, I never quite got into the GTA franchise myself, although I suppose I owe the commercials for the third installment a thank you for introducing me to Flock of Seagulls. That aside, I probably would’ve ignored the whole Cyberleek saga if not for the fact that Cyberleek, whether out of authentic concern or with more cynical intent, used their shenanigans to bring attention to serious issues of ownership and consumer rights in a world in which we increasingly don’t own what we think we buy.
Unlike most mysterious online groups, Cyberleek actually released a pretty solid manifesto demanding companies such as Rockstar provide offline fall-backs of their games and curb practices like selling games to customers, then requiring additional payments to unlock the full experience of the game they just purchased.
Yes, the days of simply buying a console and a game and getting to play both until one eventually broke or your mother cleaned out your old room after you moved away are long gone. For more than a decade, the video game industry has progressively embraced a model in which video games are no longer products, but services. In practice, this means your console may not work without an internet connection and an online account, physical discs need to be unlocked online, and access to games hosted online can be revoked once a game is no longer profitable.
Advocacy groups such as Does It Play and Stop Killing Games have since emerged, bringing attention to these concerns as they work to pressure companies and governments to curb some of these practices. Critical Drinker, a YouTuber best known for his critiques of the strip-mining and wokification of old IPs by the TV and film industries, has released some pretty insightful commentaries regarding the modern gaming industry, including one positing the kind of hacktivism carried out by Cyberleek was perhaps inevitable.
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But even if your attitude toward the plight of gamers and the whole Cyberleek episode remains a resounding “Meh” and you feel this is all much fuss over nothing, it’s important to note the business model adopted by the video game industry is becoming the norm across many others.
As pointed out by voices running the political spectrum from John Oliver to Matt Walsh in recent weeks, standard appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers increasingly require things like an internet connection, personal account, and smartphone app to work properly. Sometimes they also require customers to pay additional fees and agree to corporate surveillance. Moreover, many can be bricked whenever a company decides to offer a new model, suggesting maybe the struggles of gamers are something we should all take seriously before they become unavoidable throughout our homes.
Daniel Nuccio is an independent journalist and a spring 2026 College Fix fellow. He is a regular contributor to the College Fix and the Brownstone Institute. He earned his doctorate in biology in 2025.