“Grand Theft Auto VI”: Data theft in “Rockstar Games”

DThe studio Rockstar Games, which developed along with “Grand Theft Auto” (GTA) and “Red Dead Redemption”, two of the most popular video game series currently, is facing a major data theft. As it became known on Sunday, a user of the forum site “GTA Forums” Uploaded about a hundred video files and game code there. The files contain content from the sixth part of the GTA series, which is still in development. They were spread on other social media platforms at lightning speed. The videos show footage from the early development stages, in which the associated code can be seen as well as incomplete models or areas where textures are missing entirely.

In GTA, players have so far slipped into the role of mostly male characters, creating the small changes and equipment needed with little orders for the greats of the underworld to perform ever bigger coups and expand their influence. Of not completely nonviolent fun Above all is being able to move relatively freely in a three-dimensional city setting and being able to control everything that has wheels, chains, rotors or nozzles – no matter who owns it.

Among other things, the leaked videos show that the gangster story is the first time a female protagonist has set the stage for the fourth part. “GTA Vice City” (2002) may make a comeback. The question briefly arose as to whether the videos could be fake. But on Monday, Rockstar Games confirmed the incident: someone broke into the network and “downloaded confidential information from our systems”. At this time, it said, “a long-term impact on the development of upcoming projects” is not expected. However, they are “extremely disappointed” that details of the upcoming game have been made public in this way. Meanwhile, the hacker, using the pseudonym “teapottuberhacker,” posted on GTAForums Monday that “Rockstar” employees could send him emails from his company email address that he was trying to negotiate a “deal.” .

For Rockstar Games, the leak is no small thing, despite the work of the appeasement press. Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier sacked on Twitter reported that the theft of data is a “nightmare” for the studio and could hamper development for a considerable period of time. In addition, management may feel compelled to further restrict opportunities to work at home, which has an impact on development as well as working conditions. Schreier believes: “The full extent of the phenomenon will probably remain unclear for a while.”