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The hacker who leaked Grand Theft Auto VI has been sentenced

Tomas Franzese
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The Rockstar Games hacker responsible for the September 2022 leaks of Grand Theft Auto VI has been sentenced in the U.K. Arion Kurtaj, the 18-year-old Lapsus$ member behind the hacks of Rockstar Games, Uber, and Nvidia, was just sentenced to an indefinite hospital order, according to the BBC.

Kurtaj’s sentence is based on a number of factors. The young hacker has autism, said that he wanted to continue committing cybercrimes, and has reportedly been violent while in custody. The court ultimately decided that he would “remain at a secure hospital for life unless doctors deem him no longer a danger.”

Key art for Grand Theft Auto VI.
Rockstar Games

In September 2022, Kurtaj hacked Rockstar Games, obtained 90 clips of gameplay from the then-unannounced GTA VI, as well as its source code, and then posted it on the internet. Because of the lack of GTA VI-related information on the internet at the time, the gameplay clips obviously went viral, spreading like wildfire across leak-friendly gaming communities. This all stemmed from an illegal act, though, and Kurtaj was arrested once Rockstar and authorities found evidence that attributed these actions to him.

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Rockstar Games did recently officially announce GTA VI. Its first trailer, which focuses more on cinematics than gameplay, broke viewing records and currently sits at over 155 million views on YouTube.

Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer 1

On the leak and hacking side of things, both issues have remained constants in the video game industry. Just this month, ransomware group Rhysida hacked Insomniac Games and leaked the private information of developers, in addition to other confidential studio documents and in-development footage and builds of the upcoming Marvel’s Wolverine.

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Tomas Franzese
Tomas Franzese
Gaming Staff Writer
Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
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