GTA VI publisher gets subpoenas to identify leaks

Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of Grand Theft Auto VI parent company Rockstar Games, obtained court orders Friday requiring Microsoft and Discord to provide data as it tries to identify the source of recent GTA VI leaks.

Two federal judges in New York approved the subpoena requests, which had been filed a day earlier, according to court documents reviewed by AFP.

To obtain the orders, Take-Two had to assert that videos posted online reproduce material for which it holds the copyright, a claim it has not publicly confirmed. The court documents said the copyrighted material includes audiovisual content, artwork, images, dialogue and other creative elements.

The leaks are attributed to an account using the pseudonym Cyberleek. The author or authors claim to be acting to expose the industry's business practices.

Neither Rockstar Games nor Take-Two has commented on the leaks, which continued Friday with a new clip showing a game character stealing a sports car.

The subpoenas seek data held by Microsoft, owner of the GitHub developer platform where the leaks were allegedly posted, and by Discord, where the “infringing content” was shared in several chatrooms. Take-Two is requesting data that would identify three accounts suspected of being the source of the leaks, as well as information on all members of the forums where the leaks circulated.

Microsoft and Discord must respond by September 4.

Promotion for GTA VI is set to include an exclusive presentation on Netflix on August 27, ahead of a worldwide release on November 19. The game is set in a region inspired by the US state of Florida, and follows GTA V, which the item describes as the second-best-selling game in history.