The most anticipated video game from Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., Grand Theft Auto VI, was leaked by a hacker who posted real footage from the game’s development before it came out.
The cache of videos gives a long, unofficial look at how one of the biggest games in the business was made. Since this kind of leak doesn’t happen very often, some people questioned whether it was real when it came out over the weekend. However, people who know how the game was made say the videos are real. The footage shows early and rough plans for Grand Theft Auto VI, but the final game will look much better, said the people, who asked not to be named because the information is private.
Take-Two asked YouTube and other sites to take down the videos, saying that they were infringing on their copyright. However, this was after the videos were widely shared. Rockstar Games, the studio that makes Grand Theft Auto and is owned by Take-Two, said Monday on Twitter that the hack was true. It said that a “network intrusion” let the hacker get the information. On Monday, shares of Take-Two fell as much as 3.3%.
The hacker put up dozens of videos from Grand Theft Auto VI that had never been seen before on an online message board over the weekend. The person said on the forum that they were the same hacker who broke into Uber Technologies Inc. last week in a well-known incident. The claim can’t be proven. In a follow-up message about the upcoming Grand Theft Auto game, the hacker said, “I am looking to negotiate a deal” and brought up the possibility of releasing more internal information about the project.
The last Grand Theft Auto game came out in 2013. Because of how popular its online games were, it became the most valuable entertainment property. Bloomberg says that work on Grand Theft Auto VI has been going on in some form since 2014. It will be the first game in the series where you can play as a woman, and most of it will take place in a made-up version of Miami, according to Bloomberg. In February, Take-Two said for the first time that the game existed. This made its stock go up by 7% right away.
A Message from Rockstar Games pic.twitter.com/T4Wztu8RW8
— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) September 19, 2022
People who knew about the project said that the leak shocked the people who worked at Rockstar Games. Over the weekend, many people thought about what the event meant and how management would handle it. In a statement released Monday, Rockstar said they were upset, but that the hack wouldn’t stop them from making the game or any others. Rockstar said in a statement that they don’t think there will be any problems with their live game service or long-term effects on their ongoing projects.
In July, Roblox Corp. said that a hacker was trying to get money from the company by putting stolen information online. Neil Druckmann, co-president of Sony Group Corp.’s Naughty Dog, posted a message on Twitter on Sunday to reassure “my fellow devs out there affected by the latest leak.”
