Ahead of its official launch on November 19, 'Grand Theft Auto VI' (GTA 6), which has been the subject of immense anticipation from gamers worldwide, has been hit by a leak of gameplay footage and maps. On August 18, a hacker group calling themselves 'Cyberleek' released two minute-long clips showing the protagonist Jason playing basketball and engaging in a street brawl, along with the full game map.

What makes this leak particularly notable is the hypocrisy between the hackers' stated motives and their actual actions. They released a grand manifesto condemning anti-consumer practices in the gaming industry, such as digital pre-order restrictions and the requirement for single-player games to be playable offline. However, behind this facade of righteous whistleblowing lay a blatant profit-seeking scheme. The hackers had extensively inserted QR codes promoting their own Solana-based meme coin, 'CYBERLEEK,' throughout the leaked videos and maps.

Immediately following the leak, the price of this meme coin skyrocketed by over 4,200%, with its market cap briefly reaching $1.5 million (approx. 2 billion KRW). Gamers who thought this was an act of whistleblowing driven by noble causes are left bewildered. While the hackers fronted the cause of consumer rights protection, the reality was a classic 'pump and dump' scheme designed to grab headlines, inflate the price of a crypto asset, and cash out.

This incident is particularly damaging as it occurred just nine days before the 'GTA 6: Special Preview' showcase, an official event scheduled by Rockstar Games in partnership with Netflix for August 27. The publisher, Take-Two Interactive, immediately filed copyright infringement notices and began working to remove the leaked materials from the internet. The farce performed by hackers pretending to be moral crusaders exposing corporate overreach has only left a bitter aftertaste, making the wait for the official showcase even more intense.

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