GTA 6 trailer leak reportedly done by a threat actor Skenkir

The GTA 6 trailer leaked many hours ahead of its officially planned release time, which was on December 5, 2023, at 9 am ET. Rockstar Games has had a really tough time dealing with this game's leaks, as even its development footage got leaked in September 2022. Now, an X user, @zachxbt, has alleged that a threat actor called Skenkir was behind the entire GTA 6 trailer leak incident.

According to @zachxbt, Skenkir purchased access to a YouTube admin panel and this let him view the unlisted trailer before it launched officially. The X user has also uploaded some screenshots of Telegram text messages, reportedly from Skenkir, before apparently leaking the first GTA 6 trailer.

Note: The article is based on speculation. Readers are advised to take the information herein with a grain of salt.

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Skenkir reportedly bought access to a YouTube admin panel for carrying out the GTA 6 trailer leak

According to the Telegram screenshots uploaded by @zachxbt, the individual reportedly behind the GTA 6 trailer leak, Skenkir, initially seems unsure of where to post the video. They even talked about putting up a specific watermark over the trailer, which was, eventually seen in the leaked video.

The leaker posted a screenshot from the trailer in their text messages as well. This was from the final moments of the video wherein the initial GTA 6 release window of 2025 was announced (that has now been officially narrowed down to Fall 2025).

Per the timeline provided by @zachxbt, the leaked trailer was uploaded at 21:58 UTC on X. Consequently, Rockstar Games had to drop the official version on YouTube many hours ahead of the planned schedule. The studio acknowledged the leak by tweeting the following:

The X account through which the GTA 6 trailer was leaked was suspended shortly and remains suspended to this day. While the entire ordeal was quite unfortunate, the official trailer still went on to break many records.

Many months have passed since the incident and fans are now eagerly awaiting GTA 6 trailer 2. Rockstar Games hasn't announced a release date or a window for the same and it has been confirmed that it won't be showcased at the upcoming Summer Game Fest 2024 event.