Who Is Arion Kurtaj? The Teenager Who Hacked GTA 6 and Shocked the Gaming World

One of the Biggest Video Game Leaks in History

In September 2022, the gaming world was stunned by an unprecedented breach: over 90 gameplay videos from the unreleased GTA 6 surfaced online. The leak offered an early look at Rockstar Games’ most anticipated title, sending shockwaves through the industry.

But what shocked people even more was the identity of the hacker. He wasn’t part of a professional cybercriminal group or a foreign syndicate—he was a 17-year-old teenager from the UK named Arion Kurtaj.

Who Is Arion Kurtaj?

Arion Kurtaj is a British teen of Kosovan origin, linked to the infamous hacking collective Lapsus$. Despite his age, he had already been involved in a string of high-profile cyberattacks targeting tech giants like NVIDIA, Microsoft, Uber, and Okta.

At the time of the Rockstar Games hack, Kurtaj was on bail under police protection for previous cyber offenses.

How Did He Hack Rockstar Games?

Even more shocking than the leak itself was how he pulled it off: from a hotel room using only an Amazon Fire TV Stick, a smartphone, and the hotel television.

He gained access to Rockstar’s internal systems, infiltrated their Slack channels, and stole critical data—including portions of GTA 6’s source code. He even posted a message in Rockstar’s Slack, demanding employees contact him via Telegram or he would release the data to the public.

What Happened Next: Hospital, Not Prison

Due to severe autism, Arion Kurtaj was declared unfit to stand trial in the conventional sense. However, a UK jury still found that he committed all the acts he was accused of.

In December 2023, the court ordered that Kurtaj be held indefinitely in a secure psychiatric hospital, where he will remain until doctors deem him no longer a threat to the public.

What Is the Lapsus$ Group?

Lapsus$ is a global cybercriminal group known for data breaches, extortion, and social engineering tactics. The group is infamous for infiltrating major corporations, and its core members—many of them teenagers—have been involved in multiple high-profile hacks across the tech world.

The Bigger Picture: Cybercrime in the Hands of Teens

Arion Kurtaj’s story raises serious questions:

• How did a teenager breach one of the world’s top game developers?

• What does this say about cybersecurity today?

• And how should the legal system handle minors who commit major digital crimes?

As Rockstar prepares to officially launch GTA VI in May 2026, the Kurtaj case remains a warning—even billion-dollar companies can be vulnerable to young, tech-savvy hackers.

Check out an excellent documentary about him: