Hacker group CYBERLEEK has threatened to take action against Sony Interactive Entertainment and other game companies if they don’t limit the practice of offering pre-orders to physical media.
In a message published on its website, hacker group CYBERLEEK accused big game companies like Sony Interactive Entertainment of becoming increasingly anti-consumer, criticizing practices including digital pre-orders, unfinished releases, paid downloadable content and the shutdown of single-player games alongside online servers.
The hacker group said it is raising funds for a secret project and claimed the money will be used for “the infrastructure needed to strike” as well as security measures to withstand potential corporate counterattacks. The group warned that publishers violating its demands will be targeted until they issue a public apology and commit to addressing the alleged harm. The first of CYBERLEEK’s three “commandments” focuses on digital pre-orders. It demands that consumers should not be offered to buy games through digital storefronts before release and independent review, while maintaining that physical pre-orders should remain permitted. “Preorders were not created for gamers,” the group claimed, arguing that digital distribution eliminates the inventory limitations that justified pre-orders for physical products. It said publishers should instead “press discs. Print boxes. Put them on shelves” if they want revenue before launch. Sony Interactive Entertainment will end physical media support for PlayStation consoles starting January, 2028.
The second demand from CYBERLEEK concerns what it calls “fake single-player DLC,” opposing paid unlocks for single-player content already contained within purchased game files.
CYBERLEEK’s third and final demand is that games with single-player content receive an offline fallback when server support ends. It cited Ubisoft’s The Crew as an example, arguing that the game’s shutdown also eliminated access to its single-player campaign. “Bricking it when servers go down is theft,” the group stated.
Concluding its message, CYBERLEEK warned that its demands are “the floor — not the ceiling” and threatened continued disruption against publishers that violate them. Referring to its recent GTA VI leak, the group warned that “If CYBERLEEK can reach Rockstar, no one is safe.”
