The GTA 6 Leakers Officially Have A 5 Star Wanted Level

The video game industry was rocked by a massive leak over the weekend, as a hacker referring to themselves as teapotuberhacker suddenly dumped numerous clips from the in-development "Grand Theft Auto 6" onto the internet. The 3gb file uploaded by the hacker showed off a number of details from "Grand Theft Auto 6," including a first look at the game's new lead character and a confirmation that the series is returning to Vice City as the location of the next chapter. And although this was an exciting moment for many fans who have waited years to get a glimpse at the new game, it was also a heartbreaking experience for Rockstar Games. The "GTA" developer broke its silence regarding the leak on Monday, confirming the legitimacy of the footage and explaining the company's profound disappointment in this turn of events. And now, it looks like the authorities may be well on their way to catching the perpetrator of the hacks.

At the moment, all fingers point to a 16-year-old hacker who runs a collective called Lapsus$. As reported by the BBC, this group has been behind a number of recent high profile hacks and extortion jobs, which have netted the group millions and eventually led to several arrests earlier this year. Following the "GTA" hacker's bold claims that they were involved in a cyberattack on Uber just last week, it's looking more likely that the police have their man. Uber has just released a statement that seems to suggest that the FBI and Department of Justice may soon find the person behind the "GTA 6" leaks that have shaken gaming to its core.

On September 19, Uber issued a statement recapping its efforts to find the hacker who somehow gained access to the company on an executive level. The statement explained, "We believe that this attacker (or attackers) are affiliated with a hacking group called Lapsus$, which has been increasingly active over the last year or so ... [which] in 2022 alone has breached Microsoft, Cisco, Samsung, Nvidia and Okta, among others. There are also reports over the weekend that this same actor breached video game maker Rockstar Games. We are in close coordination with the FBI and US Department of Justice on this matter and will continue to support their efforts." In addition, the company confirmed that it is working with a digital forensics team to trace the hack and to find ways to make Uber's security even better than before. 

It is unclear at this time how much involvement Rockstar currently has with the investigation, but it can be presumed that the FBI and DOJ are speaking with all parties impacted by the hacks. Whatever the case, the heat is definitely on, and if this were a "Grand Theft Auto" game, teapotuberhacker and their associates would suddenly see a bunch of flashing stars up in the corner of the screen. 

According to Davey Winder at Forbes, a number of other sources have pointed to the same group as the force behind the cyberattack. Says Winder, "I have been hearing rumors within the online criminal fraternity all week that Lapsus$ was involved in the Uber hack, and following the weekend's Rockstar Games breach, the 'GTA 6' leak as well." 

Content creator and industry insider LegacyKillaHD has likewise reported that the Uber hacker's identity may have leaked online, thanks to the intervention of some fellow hackers, but this has yet to be confirmed by authorities. Unfortunately clouding the ongoing investigation is the fact that a number of fake accounts of popped up in recent days claiming to belong to the original hacker, as well as a few posts that seem to indicate the hacker intends to release more stolen Rockstar data.

For its own part, Rockstar has reassured fans that work will continue on the project mostly unabated, and that the hacks will not result in a major delay for the game. With production on "Grand Theft Auto 6" resuming and the hacker presumably in the FBI's crosshairs, things may be getting back to some degree of normalcy for the gaming industry soon. However, it should be noted that Rockstar Games was not the only company to suffer a hack this week, as 40 minutes of footage from Blizzard's upcoming "Diablo 4" was likewise dumped online. Unfortunately for developers and fans who like to go in un-spoiled, it's been a banner year for video game leaks.