GTA 6 Leaker CyberLeek Demands 400 XMR for Ad Placement

CyberLeek, the X account driving the Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6) leak campaign, fired back at Rockstar Games on Wednesday within hours of the studio’s open letter, repeating its demand for pressed physical discs and accusing the company of “trying to act like the victims.” The reply reignited a dispute that has run since June, when Rockstar confirmed that boxed copies of GTA 6 would carry a download code instead of a disc. The campaign has released gameplay footage in daily batches since Aug. 18, and its stated demands go beyond packaging: pressed discs for pre-orders, an offline fallback for single-player content, and an end to what it calls fake single-player expansions — content already sitting in game files and locked until players pay again. CyberLeek’s reply on X asked Rockstar directly, “Where’s the discs?” and said the group is done with the studio’s games, adding, “We will not stop fighting for our rights. We deserve it to own what we buy.” The operation also carries a cryptocurrency monetisation layer: brands seeking ad placement inside the leaked videos are asked to send 400 Monero (XMR), a privacy-focused altcoin, before a conversation can begin. At Wednesday’s price near $431, that fee was worth roughly $172,000; the payment secures a reply, not a guaranteed placement. A separate CyberLeek-associated meme coin, another altcoin, added 1,400% last week, according to market data.

Rockstar broke a week of silence earlier Wednesday with an open letter to its community. The studio thanked supporters, apologised for the long wait and confirmed the Nov. 19 launch date, while warning that spoilers could undermine the intended experience; it described the leaks as heartbreaking for the team, adding that the footage was “obviously not how we intended for you to see the game after all this time.” The letter made no mention of discs and did not name CyberLeek, an omission that fuelled the group’s reply. The broader industry is moving in the same direction as Rockstar’s download-code policy: Take-Two chief executive Strauss Zelnick told analysts on Aug. 7 that discs no longer make sense for consumers, and Sony has said it will stop pressing game discs in January 2028. The shift has generated its own backlash, with a PlayStation disc petition gathering hundreds of thousands of signatures. Stop Killing Games, a preservation campaign that advocates continued access to purchased titles, rejected the leak tactics outright, stating that using illegal means to make a point is unacceptable and does nothing to protect the right to keep using what players paid for. Take-Two has also shed market value since the leak campaign began, with the dispute now extending into the final months before launch.

The 400-XMR fee gives the leak campaign a distinct financial architecture, and the primary source for that stance is CyberLeek’s own post on X, which frames the leaks as a fight for ownership rights and says the group will not stop until publishers apologise and commit to change. Monero’s role matters because the privacy-focused altcoin lets a pseudonymous account collect fees without exposing its operators, making it an effective payment rail for a campaign operating outside official channels. The amount itself, roughly $172,000 in Monero, is small next to the value of the franchise, but it creates a direct economic incentive for continued leaks. Netflix is scheduled to air an extended GTA 6 look on Thursday, and Rockstar is betting that official footage retakes the story. Whether that defuses the campaign or simply hands the leakers a larger audience should become clear within days. As the standoff continues, the altcoin side of the dispute remains part of the public record.