Grand Theft Auto VI was finally shown to the world, but not in the way Rockstar Games intended. Dozens of videos of the game leaked onto the internet, showing off the highly anticipated sequel in an early and unfinished form. And while reports claimed that it was indeed the next Grand Theft Auto, Rockstar has issued a statement confirming that it was indeed what it looked like.
A Message from Rockstar Games pic.twitter.com/T4Wztu8RW8
— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) September 19, 2022
The official Rockstar Games Twitter account tweeted out the response, noting that things are still going planned despite the “illegally accessed” files.
“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.”
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The statement continued by saying Rockstar was disappointed over the giant leak and it is still working hard on the game and will show it when it is ready.
“We are truly 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 game when it is ready. We want to thank everyone for their ongoing support through this situation.”
Take-Two also followed up by saying it had “already taken steps to isolate and contain this incident.” However, it remains to be seen if Take-Two will pursue legal action, especially since Rockstar specifically said the data was acquired illegally. Take-Two previously reached a settlement with a website, TrustedReviews, as the outlet in question posted an alleged confidential corporate document regarding Red Dead Redemption 2. The settlement led to magazine publisher TI Media paying out over £1 million to charities chosen by Take-Two.
The alleged leaker, who went by teapotuberhacker on GTAForums, doesn’t have much of an account on that site as of now, something that seems suspect after they openly tried to contact Rockstar in their original post. That original post has locked, too, with a mod saying that all the copyrighted and “sensitive media” has been removed.
