Discord has signaled it won’t simply roll over in response to Take-Two Interactive’s legal campaign to unmask the person or persons behind the recent wave of Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks. The messaging platform’s marketing director, Ryan K. Rigney, stated on X that Discord has not yet been formally served with a subpoena from the Rockstar Games parent company, and that when it is, the company intends to carefully assess the request before turning over any information. The measured response stands in notable contrast to Microsoft, the other company named in the filing, which has already pledged its full cooperation with Take-Two’s investigation.
The legal action stems from a federal court order granted last Friday in the Southern District of New York, where a judge approved Take-Two’s request to subpoena both Discord and Microsoft under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The company is trying to identify the individual behind the account known as ‘CyberLeek,’ which is believed to be the source of leaked GTA 6 gameplay footage that has spread rapidly across the internet in recent days. As Eurogamer reports, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier indicated that Rockstar has so far been unable to determine the leaker’s identity or how the breach occurred.
What has alarmed many observers is the extraordinary breadth of the data Take-Two is requesting. According to the court filing, the company wants registration emails, IP addresses, phone numbers, linked platform accounts, and device identifiers for all user accounts that have been members of several named Discord servers since June 1 — and that participated in any conversation within those servers. One of the servers listed belongs to Australian GTA content creator DarkViperAU, who has over two million YouTube subscribers and has denied any involvement in the leaks. The servers in question collectively have hundreds of thousands of members, the vast majority of whom have no connection to the source material.
Privacy advocates have been quick to raise alarms. Reclaim The Net, a free speech and privacy group, argued that the subpoena effectively weaponizes copyright law to conduct a fishing expedition for user identities. As IGN details, the group contended that Take-Two is not merely targeting whoever uploaded the leaked footage but is casting a net over entire communities — people whose only connection to the leaks may be membership in a server where the material was discussed. The group also noted that the DMCA process makes filing such claims cheap and quick, while placing the compliance burden squarely on platforms.
Microsoft, meanwhile, appears far more willing to assist. Xbox chief technology officer Scott Van Vliet publicly stated the company is “working closely with Take-Two and Rockstar Games to support efforts to protect creative works and intellectual property.” As Rock Paper Shotgun notes, Microsoft has a stronger commercial incentive to maintain a cooperative relationship with Take-Two, given the Xbox platform’s reliance on major third-party titles like GTA 6. The subpoena also specifically requests OneDrive data, Microsoft’s cloud storage service where some of the leaked material was reportedly hosted.
Both companies have been given a deadline of September 4 to produce the requested information. Discord has a track record of navigating similar legal pressure from game publishers — it has previously faced subpoenas from Nexon over piracy-related communities and took action against servers tied to Nintendo Switch emulators following legal threats. How the company ultimately responds to Take-Two’s request could set an important precedent for how broadly copyright enforcement tools can be used to access the personal data of large online communities. For now, all eyes remain on whether the scope of the subpoena will survive Discord’s promised scrutiny.