The GTA 6 hacker breaks his silence: "The code is still circulating"

Arion Kurtaj, who was transferred from a psychiatric hospital to a regular prison while awaiting his retrial in November, hinted to the BBC that the stolen source code for GTA 6 “is still circulating” and could be leaked after the game’s release.

Arion Kurtaj, the hacker who in September 2022 broke into Rockstar’s servers and leaked 90 videos and images of GTA 6 more than a year before the first official trailer, has been released from the maximum-security psychiatric hospital where he had been held since 2023. As confirmed by BBC journalist Joe Tidy, Kurtaj is now in a regular prison awaiting a retrial scheduled for November 2026—the same month that Grand Theft Auto VI finally arrives on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

A Cell Phone, a Fire Stick, and a Hotel Room

Kurtaj, then just 17 years old, was a member of Lapsus$, the hacking group also responsible for attacks on BT, Uber, and Nvidia. At the time of the Rockstar hack, he was under police protection at a Travelodge, with his laptop confiscated following the earlier hack on Nvidia. Even so, according to GamingBible, all he needed was a cell phone, an Amazon Fire Stick, and the room’s TV to break into the company’s internal Slack channel and get his hands on 90 videos of GTA VI.

Kurtaj threatened to release everything if he didn’t receive a payment. Rockstar refused, and he carried out his threat: the leak cost the company about $5 million and thousands of hours of work, making it one of the largest thefts of material in video game history.

From “Unfit to Stand Trial” to a Retrial in the Middle of a Launch

A psychiatric evaluation then determined that Kurtaj had severe autism and was not fit to stand trial for his intent, so the 2023 jury only had to decide whether he had committed the acts, not whether there was criminal intent. He was found guilty and sent to a psychiatric hospital indefinitely, until doctors deemed him safe. That same evaluation noted that Kurtaj “continued to express the intention to return to cybercrime as soon as he could” and that he was “highly motivated.”

How someone declared unfit to stand trial due to his mental state can now face a retrial remains, for the moment, a mystery. Joe Tidy himself says he is investigating the matter, and the police have only confirmed that Kurtaj is out of the hospital.

Is the GTA 6 source code still circulating?

It’s best to take a step back here. The tracking account RockstarINTEL shared screenshots of a Snapchat conversation attributed to a profile under Kurtaj’s name (with no confirmation that it’s actually him) with another user identified as “Omar,” in which the GTA VI source code is discussed as something that is still circulating and ready to be leaked once the game goes on sale. When asked about the matter, the account responded evasively:

“Interesting. No further comment on that matter.”

This isn’t a statement to the BBC or confirmation of anything: it’s a private message leaked by an unverified fan account. For now, it remains a rumor, not a confirmed fact.

What does seem certain is that Kurtaj hasn’t exactly been keeping quiet in prison: he reportedly smuggled a phone in and continued posting on Snapchat, including a complaint about being charged with a “shitty hacking charge.”

With the retrial set for the same month as the game’s release, the community has one more reason to keep an eye on the news until November 19. You can follow all verified news and review what’s confirmed about GTA VI while the case is being resolved.