Take-Two clears out GTA 6 forum and subreddit following leak
All links to the leaked content are being removed for fear of “obliteration”
Rockstar Games‘ parent company Take-Two Interactive has reportedly ordered two of the largest online Grand Theft Auto communities to take down any links to the GTA 6 footage leaked on Sunday.
GTAForums – where the leak was originally shared – and the Grand Theft Auto 6 subreddit page on Reddit both posted messages informing their users that they had been told to remove links to any leaked content.
Update
Rockstar Games has publicly commented on the Grand Theft Auto 6 leak.
In a statement published on its social channels, the company said it was “extremely disappointed” to have details on the game shared in this way, and claimed that the leak would not delay the project.
The original GTAForums thread was temporarily closed down (as spotted by Tom Henderson) with a message reading: “We have been contacted by Take-Two Interactive to take down copyrighted material from GTAForums.
“As usual with previous games, we will be complying and this topic will be re-opened in due course. Thanks for understanding.”
The thread has since returned, albeit locked and with all links to the leak removed. A message at the top reads: “All sensitive media in this thread has been hidden and the thread has been made public again for archival reasons.”
Meanwhile, the entire /r/GTA6 subreddit on Reddit was temporarily taken down.
As noted by Twitter user ArthurLexur, a message on the subreddit read: “Due to legal issues all GTA6 leaks and content is being temporarily paused until things are cleared up for us. Sorry for the inconvenience.”
The subreddit is now back, with a warning at the top that nobody can link to the leaks or the subreddit faces being “obliterated” by Take-Two.
“We are opening the subreddit with a condition that no one can post links, photos and videos of recent leaks,” the message reads. “This is done so to protect the subreddit from getting obliterated by Rockstar Games.
“However, we will allow discussions related to the leak without attaching the leaks. We don’t allow comments that has download links to the leak.”
More than an hour of apparently legitimate Grand Theft Auto 6 footage was leaked on Sunday, and since then Take-Two has been firefighting to remove links to it.
Multiple videos have been removed from YouTube at the request of Take-Two, seemingly confirming the legitimacy of the substantial leak.
The takedown notices are being issued on behalf of Take-Two Interactive and appear to have been submitted by a Rockstar-affiliated email address, again pointing to the leak being legitimate.