The teenage hacker responsible for the GTA 6 leak has been found liable in court after new information about the hack was revealed.
In September 2022, fans of GTA 6 finally got their first glimpse of the long-awaited game following the release of 90 developmental videos showing open world title in action.
The leak confirmed that the series would return to Vice City and feature a female protagonist, among other details once dismissed as mere speculation.
According to new reports, a UK court found that 18-year-old Arion Kurtaj helped carry out the hack as a member of the Lapsus$ hacking group. During court, a jury heard new information related to the hack and some new twists about how it was carried out.
GTA 6 hacker was already arrested and staying at Travelodge
The BBC states that Kurtaj and a 17-year-old (who cannot be named) started hacking together after meeting in 2021.
A year later, the two were arrested following Lapsus$’s attack on Nvidia, where they threatened to release more data unless a ransom was paid.
Kurtaj ended up being doxxed by rival hackers and was placed in a Travelodge by police due to safety concerns while out on bail.
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While at the Travelodge, Kurtaj was able to attack multiple companies including Revolut, Uber and Rockstar Games.
The court heard that Kurtaj posted a message in Rockstar’s Slack writing, “I am not a Rockstar employee, I am an attacker,” and warned that he had downloaded GTA VI data.
“If Rockstar does not contact me on Telegram within 24 hours I will start releasing the source code,” he warned.
Following this, 90 clips of GTA 6 development footage was leaked on GTAForums, but it wasn’t long before the hacker was caught red-handed.
Inside the Travelodge cops found an Amazon Firestick, keyboard, mouse, and smart phone, which allowed him to access the internet and defy his bail conditions.
Both teens are set to be sentenced at a later date, with Kurtaj remaining in custody until then. Rockstar says the “unfortunate” hack will not impact the release of Grand Theft Auto 6, but for now, the game has yet to even be officially announced.