During the weekend, more than 90 videos and images from the next instalment in the Grand Theft Auto franchise have been leaked online by a hacker, according to the game developer.
A Message from Rockstar Games pic.twitter.com/T4Wztu8RW8
— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) September 19, 2022
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.
We are extremely disappointed to have any details of our next game shared with you all in this way. Our work on the next Grand Theft Auto game will continue as planned and we remain as committed as ever to delivering an experience to you, our players, that truly exceeds your expectations. We will update everyone again soon and, of course, will properly introduce you to this next game when it is ready. We want to thank everyone for their ongoing support through this situation.
The Rockstar Games Team
The leaked content was posted on Sunday on the GTAForums site after what is being described as one of gaming industries’ biggest security breaches.
Rockstar said it remained unclear how the hacker obtained the sensitive material but confirmed that among other data, “early development footage” from GTA VI had been stolen.
The footage was put on the GTAForums site by a user called teapotuberhacker who claimed to have gained access to the data by breaching Rockstar’s internal feed on Slack, and invited executives to negotiate to avoid further leaks.
Additional revelations could include source code, assets, and testing builds from both GTA V and GTA VI, which could prove damaging to the company’s operations.
While the original post has since been removed by moderators to avoid legal action from the company, the leak soon spread widely on social media. Rockstar has reportedly also issued takedown orders to remove the footage from YouTube, but as of the writing of this article videos still remain online.
The footage shows gameplay action, animation tests, level layouts, and it also confirms a long-running rumour that the game will feature the series’ first playable female protagonist.
It has also been revealed that the game will take place in a fictionalised version of Miami which was also the setting on 2002’s GTA: Vice City.
Rockstar confirmed it was developing the game earlier this year, and we can anticipate it sometime around 2025.
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