[STEAM] I thought digital-only games would stop leaks, but GTA 6 just proved me wrong

[Steam 0]

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(Image credit: Embark)

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My original theory tied back to the

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. I can't count the times I've seen entire games leaking online in the days and weeks prior to launch. From Lies of P to Silent Hill f, physical discs pose a threat to game releases. They are artefacts you hold in your hands, creating a tangible thing that can be bought, stolen, or delivered too early.

Despite

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about the importance of physical games, I understand Sony's move to

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from a distribution perspective. Without physical discs, digital copies going live at the same time surely means a reduced risk of early leaks happening, right? Only in the case of

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, all the decision has done so far is antagonize a hacker organization called Cyberleek, who posted gameplay footage ranging from the

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to shots of Lucia and Jason taking cars and scooters for a spin, which have since been issued DCMA takedowns.

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(Image credit: Marvel, Sony) We've seen blockbuster studios get targeted by such operations before.

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back in 2023 springs to mind immediately, when a hacker group called Rhysida threatened to leak Marvel's Wolverine before it had even been given a first official look. Those hackers were the usual type; pay us X, and we'll stop doing X. It was a greed and money thing through and through.

Cyberleek seems to think it is doing a huge public service to gamers by fighting for physical games, supposedly out of the good of its proletariat heart. It even released a manifesto that, as well as a

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, demands an end to digital pre-orders, paid DLC, and an offline playable version. It's a skewed and highly unusual attempt at vigilante justice – assuming its motive is genuine – and

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at Stop Killing Games can get behind.

Uphill battles

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(Image credit: Rockstar Games) I forgot there's more than one way for games to leak – and one of them is much more unpredictable...

Digital-only is not the safety net or quick anti-leak fix that I thought it would be. In this case, it may have been an instigator that shows the magnitude of its unpopularity.

I'm not saying the Cyberleek attack will make Rockstar backtrack. Thieves are here to stay, and there's little a plastic CD can do to stop it. But if the footage was attained through server hacking, it would serve as a reminder of how fallible and unsecure the digital realm itself is – which, I guess, was Cyberleek's completely ******** point.

Whether it's a crypto scam of dramatic proportions or a genuine threat to GTA 6 ahead of its

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(an alleged Rockstar insider on

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says the footage is a year old, so who knows how much of it is legitimate), the GTA 6 hack sends an entirely different message compared to what happened at Insomniac. If money is not the object here, it's clear that physical games are now considered equally as valuable to some. Including, apparently, cyberattackers.

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