Hacker posts videos of GTA VI after breaking into Rockstar’s network

A hacker, who claims to be behind last week’s Uber breach, has released multiple gameplay videos linked to Grand Theft Auto VI, the next edition in the popular GTA franchise, reported Bloomberg on Monday. The hacker claimed to have acquired the videos after gaining unauthorised access to Rockstar Games’ Slack and Confluence servers.

The breach was acknowledged by Rockstar Games in a Twitter post. “We recently suffered a network intrusion in which an unauthorized third party illegally accessed and downloaded confidential information from our systems, including early development footage for the next Grand Theft Auto. At this time, we do not anticipate any disruption to our live game services nor any long-term effect on the development of our ongoing projects,” the gaming company said in the post on Monday. 

Rockstar is the gaming publishing arm of US-based gaming Take-Two Interactive, which owns the GTA franchise.

GTA is one of the most played role-playing games in the world. The last game in the series “GTA V” has sold over 170 million copies as of August 2022, according to Statista data.

GTA VI is currently under development and is expected to be released sometime in 2024. Gaming companies are usually discreet about gameplay footage, especially of popular games that are still under development, to avoid any imitations. These videos are reserved till the launch and used by gaming companies to create buzz around the game.

The videos linked to GTA VI were first posted by the hacker on GTAForums on Saturday and within hours were circulated across multiple social media platforms including YouTube, Reddit, Twitter, Reddit, and several other gaming forums. However, many of these videos have now been taken down for copyright infringement after Take-Two Interactive’s intervention.

The leaked videos included footage of Vice City locations, two playable characters, and robbery scenes. 

According to the Bloomberg report, the leak of GTA VI videos is one of the biggest leaks in the gaming industry. The hacker behind the breach also claimed to have been involved in last week’s breach at a cab riding firm, which was also executed through a compromised Slack account.  

After releasing the video the hacker also posted a message online asking Rockstar Games or its parent to contact them, according to the Bloomberg report.

Cyberattacks on gaming companies have more than doubled over the past year, Akamai said in a report published last month. The report also stated that the gaming industry accounted for 37% of all distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.