Take-Two Interactive asked a US court on August 28 to issue a second subpoena to Discord in its effort to identify whoever leaked Grand Theft Auto 6 footage, and asked for the request to be filed under seal, according to court documents obtained by TorrentFreak and reported by Video Games Chronicle and PC Gamer.
The publisher's first round of requests, filed after the leaked clips began circulating this month and since cleared by the court, sought Microsoft's internal investigation records on the "cyberleek" persona and information on potentially thousands of users who had interacted with certain Discord servers. Further requests followed against X and YouTube, and Discord said at the time that it had not yet been served.
A narrower request, kept off the public docket
The August 28 filing is far tighter. Take-Two told the court it has "identified one additional Discord user and obtained additional identifying information for a previously identified Discord user," along with further information about the community servers named in its first subpoena, for which it now wants more targeted records. Those accounts and that server are "believed to be involved in the same infringing activity" described in the earlier request, and a footnote states that the investigation is "rapidly evolving and ongoing."
Where the previous subpoena filings were public, the details of this one are sealed. A motion to keep the seal in place argues that the filing is not subject to the presumption of public access, and that Take-Two's countervailing interests would take precedence in any case, because the document reveals sensitive information about an ongoing investigation into copyright infringement.
Public disclosure of this information could compromise Take-Two's ongoing investigation and even tip off the alleged infringers.
No ruling on the sealing request has been made, and the subpoena itself has not been issued.
The YouTube request withdrawn
In a separate August 28 filing, Take-Two withdrew its earlier DMCA subpoena request aimed at YouTube, which had sought information on three personas seemingly tied to a leaked video. Its lawyers wrote that the investigation into those responsible for posting infringing content "has been (and is) evolving rapidly as new information becomes available," and that the company had determined it no longer needed the particular information it had requested.
By the time of the filings, the reveal the leaks had pre-empted was over: Rockstar's Netflix showcase had aired, and PC Gamer reported that the Cyberleek group made off with more than $200,000 in what it called a predictable rug pull.