Unless you live deep in a cave, you can’t have missed this week’s major event. video game news: 90 gameplay extracts from an alpha version of GTA 6 have been published on GTAForums. The result of a hack that will have put the Internet and in particular the networks in turmoil for 48 hours and the case is far from over, it is possible that the consequences of this leak can only be measured in the long term .
- Remark : This article will be updated with each major advancement.
GTA 6 leak: Summary of events
09/18 – The beginning of the confusion
On the night of Saturday September 17 to Sunday September 18, a post published on GTAForums will simply set the Internet on fire. Containing more than 90 gameplay videos of what could be GTA 6, the publication begins to make the rounds of the networks and the videos are seen directly dissected by the community. And since we are talking about a license that is among the most popular in video games, many people will look into it, without necessarily paying attention to the content of what they are watching.
09/18 – A proven leak and a lot of clumsiness
A few hours later, Jason Schreier will confirm that it is indeed Grand Theft Auto VI. We are obviously on very, very little advanced gameplay of the game, these are working materials for the Rockstar teams. Only, the ignorance of the community when it comes to the real functioning of the development of a video game will cause inappropriate reactions. On the networks, many unfortunately go judging what he sees as if it were a finished product, when he very clearly has a long way to go before it lands on the shelves of retailers.
09/19 – An unconscious hacker who wants to haggle
A few hours after his post, the hacker finally responds in the same thread, starting by admitting that he did not know it would take on this magnitude. He then invites Rockstar to contact him claiming that he was also in possession of the source codes of GTA 5 and GTA 6. As we have seen in a previous article, the release of this data could be quite catastrophic for the job. developers. A few rumors about the sale of the CS of GTA 5 ran, but no concrete element came to corroborate them. On the other hand, there is a very good chance that the hacker came into possession of the famous code according to a new article from InsiderGaming.
09/19 – The cleaning begins
Rockstar has obviously rolled up its sleeves to mop up the disaster by deleting all the videos that have been broadcast on the web. Impossible to get it all out obviously, but at least the bulk of Grand Theft Auto VI’s “gameplay footage” has disappeared from circulation. R* also published a rather reassuring official press release, which we will discuss a little further down.
09/23 – The Arrest
It won’t be long before a suspect is arrested. London police have arrested a 17-year-old young man who is allegedly involved in cyber-attacks, including the one that interests us in this article. More details on the identity of the young hacker will be given by the police in the coming days, but his involvement in the GTA 6 leak case leaves little doubt.
This is concretely where we are at the moment, but Rockstar has already planned to speak again in a short time. This article will be updated as the situation progresses.
Rockstar “reassures” in an official press release
It took until the day after the hack to get an official response from Rockstar. The studio has indeed confirmed the veracity of the leak but wanted to be reassuring for this first official post. According to their message, the online services of R* games are not affected and the work of the developers can continue normally. They end by specifying that they will indeed show the game, but once it is ready and not before. Few things to say about this clear communication, now we will have to see what concrete consequences (if any) this hack had on the GTA 6 site.
Who is the alleged hacker?
Teapotuberhacker would be part of the Lapsus$ hacker collective and would not be at his first attempt. This group would have already undermined the security of the company Uber, but they also attacked 2K (still at Take Two), just after Rockstar. Teapot is said to be the leader of the group and the FBI is currently on his trail at the request of Uber. He would only be 17 years old and, according to the administrator of the Breached forum, the young man has already been arrested for cases of this type in the past. As we saw above, a teenager corresponding to Teapot’s description was arrested yesterday by the London police.
Last minute information has just fallen: it seems that the hacker behind the huge GTA 6 leak has been arrested! Is it really him? What is he at risk? We take stock with you of this story that continues to unleash passions.
The video game industry in support
This is perhaps the only positive point in this whole story: since the leak, many industry players have shown their support for Rockstar by silencing the gossip. A sentence, “the graphics are the first thing finished in a video game”, will be taken up by developers, while posting very “early” versions of their projects before they come out. The opportunity to see that no, the graphics are not the first concern that the devs tackle during the design of a game. The movement initiated by a developer from Guerrilla will very quickly be followed by people from Naughty Dog, Devolver, etc.
In case you missed the news, development studio Rockstar Games was the subject of a gigantic leak a few days ago. 90 video clips of GTA 6 have found their way onto the web, and there are even rumors of pieces of code going on sale.