2023's Biggest Video Game Leaks, From Wolverine To GTA

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Two people hold up buckets to catch falling game logos and box art.

2023 is nearly a wrap. As we close the books on what was an outstanding year of video games, we also note that 2023 was a year rife with something else: leaked information about video games. Oftentimes very big leaks. This year was lousy with them.

Throughout 2023 we saw numerous street dates broken, carefully orchestrated trailer reveals blown up, console hardware refreshes “unofficially” unveiled by randos, and whole damn Nintendo games hitting the net before they even hit store shelves. 2023 was a wild ride, y’all.

The stage thus set, let’s take a look back at the year that was, the year...in leaks.

Let’s just start with the big one: Grand Theft Auto 6’s trailer, scheduled to premiere on December 5 at 9 a.m. ET, may well have been the most anticipated video game reveal of the decade. Hardcore fans were virtually camping on social media, waiting for the video to drop at the appointed time. Unfortunately for Rockstar a leaker had other plans, and released a heavily watermarked version of the hugely hyped trailer the evening before. This forced Rockstar to hurriedly post the official trailer barely an hour later so everyone could enjoy it at full resolution.

Following the immense GTA6 leaks from last year, and given the historically secretive nature of Grand Theft Auto reveals, this was arguably one of 2023’s biggest leaks.

Wolverine sits at a bar with his back to the camera.

Art for The Last of Us Part II Remastered shows a release date of January 29, 2024.

The Last of Us Part II Remastered, also known as Ellie’s Eat, Prey, Love, Seattle Edition, is on its way. We got the deets by way of a classic “whoops, someone let that store listing go up when they weren’t supposed to.” Always a hit.

A leaked image shows a PS5 slim model with a watermark.

It is now customary midway through a console’s lifespan, particularly with Sony, to expect a smaller, “slim” variant that pairs down the game machine’s size and maybe makes a few other adjustments here and there.

Back in August we got a look at an apparently 30 percent smaller PS5 unit via leaks. Sure enough, the previously unseen machine proceeded to make its way to store shelves in November, complete with a newly optional, attachable disc drive that requires you to connect to the internet, for…reasons.

A leaked image of the PS Portal shows the device running android.

A slide shows details for a disc-less Xbox Series X shaped like a trash can.

Microsoft wasn’t immune from the leak bug going around this year. As a result of the saga that was Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, we got an advance look at a trash-can-shaped, discless refresh Xbox Series X expected at some point in the future, as well as a new controller that could feature more native xCloud game streaming integration and overhauled haptic feedback.

But that wasn’t all. The same leaks also revealed behind-the-scenes email conversations among the Xbox team, including Xbox Studios head Matt Booty strategizing over how Xbox could end up “spending Sony out of business.” Neat! There were also plans for a Redfall TV show.

You know, come to think of it, I’d hate-watch that.

Three humans a shark man stand in a row.

Link braces for an attack from a large boss made of boxes.

Back in April, streamer Ekuegan found himself in a bit of controversy after allegedly leaking details about Destiny’s future content. Initially there was some skepticism that Ekuegan had actually done the things he was accused of. Bungie followed up with a statement saying that it had, in no uncertain terms, “irrefutable evidence” that Ekuegan wasn’t just responsible for recent leaks, but had allegedly been guilty of Destiny 2 leaks for years.

A character looks out at a castle in the distance.

As with Dragon Age’s sister franchise, Mass Effect, BioWare has typically kept its cards close to its chest concerning anything and everything about the medieval RPG series. A post on Twitter, however, leaked portions of the gameplay, showing off a God of War-like makeover featuring real-time combat and a lack of party controls. Based on online reactions, this similarity to an existing and unrelated franchise was not really what fans were hoping for in the next chapter of Dragon Age.

After tossing up some Starfield gameplay to the internet, and then, uh, selling stolen copies of the game before its release date, gamer Darin Harris was in a bit of a pickle. He faced felony charges and up to 12 years in jail over the deed.

Image: Discord / Kotaku

Okay so while not technically a gaming leak, this one deserves mention. Back in April, secret military intel regarding the war in Ukraine made its way to Discord, the chat app popular with gamers. The leaker, one Jack Teixeira, was in the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard.

Beyond Good & Evil is expected to get a remaster sometime next year. Details emerged by way of another classic leak source: the ESRB, which is the organization that gives age ratings to video games. Whoops! Ubisoft finally fessed up to the game’s existence after Ubisoft+ subscribers somehow getting access to the new version of the 2003 game. Seems some secrets are determined to step into the light.

Sonic looks at the camera with an annoyed expression.

A treasure trove of old-school internal Sega documents from the ‘90s hit the web earlier this year, making for a bit of a field day for game historians. It included details about Sega Saturn’s attempts to win the 32-bit console war against the original Sony PlayStation, as well as details on the company’s marketing efforts.

A character in Far Cry leans against a wall while holding a machine gun.

Far Cry was a very, very different game back in 2004. And as was customary of Crytek productions, it certainly was a technical and visual treat. All the juicy code behind the scenes made its way to the Internet Archive in June.

1993’s Mortal Kombat II saw its source code tossed up to GitHub at the start of the year. A DMCA takedown delivered a swift fatality, but now it’ll always be floating around the internet, somewhere.

Nintendo’s return-to-form Super Mario Bros. Wonder also suffered an unfortunate leak shortly before its launch date. Modders then creatively refreshed the dialogue with colorful language before Nintendo decided to be prudes about the whole thing.

At the start of the year, screenshots and video of a new game in Guerrilla’s post-apocalyptic, robo-dino extravaganza Horizon franchise hit the net. Unexpectedly perhaps, the game looked rather cartoonish. Not much else is known right now about this project.

Characters from Left 4 Dead run from zombies.

Along with a whole buncha Counter-Strike materials leaking out, we also got a look at “Counter-Strike: Condition Zero,” an apparent precursor to co-op zombie shooter Left 4 Dead. Unlike many other leaked builds of games, you can actually play this one by way of a mod for Counter-Strike: Source.

And that wraps our roll call of 2023’s most messy, scandalous video game leaks. Which ones struck you as most exciting? Or most disruptive?