Resident Evil 9 Just Leaked Weeks Early, and It’s a Terrifying Warning for GTA 6

Resident Evil 9: Requiem doesn't officially release until February 27, 2026, but physical copies are already circulating in the wild. Images surfaced online earlier this week showing boxed copies of the game in the hands of players more than three weeks before launch. This is the exact scenario Take-Two Interactive said it isn't worried about with Grand Theft Auto VI.

During Take-Two's Q3 FY2026 earnings call on Tuesday, CEO Strauss Zelnick shot down rumors that Rockstar might delay the physical release of GTA 6 to avoid leaks. When asked directly about the possibility of a digital-only launch on November 19 with physical copies following weeks or months later, Zelnick gave a characteristically brief response: "That's not the plan."

However, what if it should be? What's happening with Resident Evil 9 right now is a preview of exactly what could happen to GTA 6 if Take-Two doesn't take physical security seriously.

Capcom hasn't officially commented on the situation, but social media is on high alert. Gaming sites are cautioning players to mute keywords and avoid forums dedicated to the franchise. For a survival horror game that relies on tension and surprise, having plot details leak three weeks early is a disaster, and this isn't even the first time this has happened to a major AAA release.

In August 2023, Bethesda's Starfield suffered a similar fate when copies started appearing in the wild about two weeks before its September launch. One leaker in particular managed to steal 67 copies of the game from a Vantiva logistics warehouse where he worked. He uploaded a 45-minute gameplay video to YouTube, addressed Bethesda director Todd Howard directly ("Todd, no offense, man, that's a good game"), and then started selling stolen copies on the Japanese e-commerce platform Mercari for up to $650.

Harris was arrested on August 24, 2023, and charged with Class D felony theft, which carries a potential sentence of 2-12 years in prison. Police executed a search warrant on his home and found multiple copies of Starfield, FedEx packages ready for shipping, and three handguns, one of which was stolen. Despite Bethesda's efforts to contain the leak through DMCA takedowns, the footage had already spread across Reddit, YouTube, and countless other platforms.

Of course, Starfield survived. The game still went on to surpass 6 million players within the first week of release - let's not worry about the review scores and general reception right now - and the leak turned out to be more of a mere nuisance than a catastrophe. However, it isn't such a clear comparison, as Starfield had two things working in its favor that GTA 6 might not.

First, the leak didn't reveal anything that turned players off. Harris's gameplay footage was low-quality and unimpressive, and he played like someone who'd never touched a Bethesda RPG before, which made for quite the entertainment. Second, Starfield was available on Game Pass day one, meaning millions of players had access regardless of whether they bought a physical copy.

GTA 6 won't have those safety nets. It's not launching on any subscription service, and it's a full-price $70-$100 purchase (depending on edition) with no PC version confirmed until well after the console launch. Plus, unlike Starfield, which had relatively modest expectations, GTA 6 is expected to save the video game industry from its slump.

Analysts are predicting 20 million copies sold within the first 24 hours and $7.6 billion in revenue within 60 days. With a reported development budget exceeding $1 billion, the stakes are astronomically higher.

Now imagine what happens if physical copies of GTA 6 start leaking three weeks before November 19, 2026. Story spoilers. The full game map is revealed. Character details. Mission structures. Secret vehicles. Easter eggs. Everything that Rockstar has spent over a decade protecting was suddenly dumped onto the internet because a retail employee somewhere out there decided to make a quick buck on the internet.

Remember that this is the company that fired dozens of employees over alleged information leaks. The company that operates with paranoid-level security around GTA 6. The company that's already been through one massive hack in September 2022, when an 18-year-old hacker breached their network and posted 90 clips of work-in-progress footage. Rockstar knows better than anyone how quickly leaks spread and how difficult they are to contain once they're out there.

So why is Take-Two willing to gamble on physical copies at launch? The rumor that Rockstar might delay the physical release until 2027 came from Polish insider Graczdari at PPE.pl, who claimed the delay would be specifically to prevent leaks. Zelnick shot it down with three words: "That's not the plan." But "not the plan" doesn't mean it's a bad idea. It just means Take-Two has decided the risk is acceptable, and maybe they're right.

Grand Theft Auto 5 survived when it leaked ahead of its release in 2013, and that game has sold over 225 million copies. For a game as hyped as GTA 6, a few early leaks probably won't stop millions from buying it anyway. The fanbase is massive and passionately loyal. A leaked copy in the wild isn't going to derail the biggest entertainment launch in history.

But it could absolutely ruin the experience for fans who've waited over a decade for this game. And it could upend Rockstar's carefully planned marketing rollout. Take-Two just confirmed that GTA 6 marketing starts this summer, which means Rockstar will want to control g every piece of information that gets revealed between now and November. A physical leak three weeks before launch would shatter that control instantly.

For what it's worth, fans who want physical copies have a reason to celebrate. Zelnick's confirmation means collectors won't have to wait until 2027 to get a boxed version of GTA 6. That's good news for anyone who values physical media and doesn't want to be forced into digital-only purchases. It also means there won't be a two-tiered launch where digital players get the game weeks or months before physical buyers, which would have been a PR nightmare.

This also means Take-Two is betting that Rockstar's security measures are strong enough to prevent what just happened to Resident Evil 9. Given that fans have already tried faking IDs and flying drones at Rockstar's windows, trying to glimpse early footage, that's a hell of a bet to make.

Resident Evil 9: Requiem releases February 27, 2026. Grand Theft Auto 6 releases on November 19, 2026. If Take-Two is watching what's happening to Capcom right now, maybe they'll reconsider their stance on physical security. Or maybe they'll just cross their fingers and hope for the best. Either way, the next nine months are going to be interesting.