GTA 6 hacker Arion Kurtaj to stand trial on November 9
The man behind the 2022 Rockstar hack that leaked GTA VI footage has been found fit to plead. His trial starts ten days before the game launches.
The September 2022 Rockstar hack, which spilled clips of GTA VI in early development, is heading back to court. Arion Kurtaj, whom the UK courts found responsible for the attack, will stand trial on November 9, 2026 at Woolwich Crown Court in London, just ten days before the game launches. The date was shared by Red Lion Chambers, the barristers' chambers involved in his defence.
Why there's a new trial
In 2023, Kurtaj was found unfit to plead because of his mental health. That meant the jury never ruled on his guilt; it only found that he had carried out the acts behind 12 offences, the Rockstar breach among them. He was given an indefinite hospital order under the UK's Mental Health Act.
According to Red Lion Chambers, after two years of treatment at a secure hospital he has now been assessed as fit to plead, clearing the way for a full trial.
The case so far
Date | What happened |
|---|---|
September 2022 | Rockstar confirms an intruder accessed its systems and downloaded confidential information, including early GTA VI footage |
2023 | Kurtaj is found unfit to plead; the jury finds he committed the acts behind 12 offences, and he receives an indefinite hospital order |
September 2025 | The Court of Appeal dismisses his appeal, while agreeing that evidence of six earlier hacking offences, to which he pleaded guilty in 2021, shouldn't have been admitted |
November 9, 2026 | Trial at Woolwich Crown Court after being found fit to plead |
What it means for GTA VI
In practical terms, nothing changes for players: the game still launches on November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series. But the trial is a reminder of how costly that breach was for Rockstar, which watched footage of a very early build spread more than a year before the official reveal. It's hard not to connect that with the secrecy that has surrounded the campaign since.
Material stolen in 2022 still resurfaces now and then, as it did in September with the 192GB leak of cut GTA V content. We'll report on the outcome once there's a verdict.
