Why GTA 6 leaker proven guilty is a big deal for the game's announcement and release date

Rockstar Games experienced an unprecedented network intrusion in September 2022, which led to tons of Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 6 development footage being leaked online. While it satiated the gaming community's thirst to see something related to the next game in the series, there was also the fear that it could lead to the title being delayed.

Fortunately, it was soon revealed that the leaks hadn't affected the business side of things.

Nearly a year later, a UK court found the individual responsible for this leak incident guilty, which could impact Rockstar's next release. So, let's take a closer look at how the GTA 6 leaker being proven guilty is a big deal for the game's announcement and release date.

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GTA 6 leaker Arion Kurtaj being proven guilty might be a big deal for the game's announcement and release date

The 18-year-old member of the Lapsus$ hacking group, Arion Kurtaj, was recently found guilty of leaking GTA 6 development footage by a UK court, as per a report by the BBC. In fact, he has previously been held responsible for cyber attacks on other companies, such as Nvidia.

Interestingly, the news of Arion Kurtaj being found guilty following a lengthy trial has the potential to impact the next Grand Theft Auto's highly anticipated announcement and release date.

Months after the September 2022 GTA 6 leaks, the CEO of Take-Two Interactive (Rockstars' parent company), Strauss Zelnick, revealed how it affected them emotionally and personally.

Rockstar Games has seemingly been working on this project for a lot of years as it is expected to be far more advanced than Grand Theft Auto 5 and even Red Dead Redemption 2 to some extent. Therefore, getting showcased to the world in an unfinished state must have been a difficult situation to cope with.

Although Strauss Zelnick assured that the leaks didn't impact them business-wise, having positive morale is also important for creating a good game. Now that the GTA 6 hacker has finally been found guilty, Rockstar's development team must have felt a sense of closure.

With this unfortunate incident behind them, fans hope for an official Grand Theft Auto 6 announcement from Rockstar in the near future. While the gaming studio is still silent as ever, Take-Two did drop a few hints recently in its August 2023 earnings call.

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At the event, Rockstar's parent company reiterated confidence in Fiscal Year 2025, which should last from the middle of 2024 to the initial few months of 2025, being highly successful. Take-Two Interactive anticipates a revenue of eight billion dollars in Net Bookings during that time.

This has led to the speculations of GTA 6 releasing in that period. If that happens to be the case, the game's marketing and promotion should most likely begin in the coming months, starting with an official announcement.