Rockstar Games Hackers Say They Will Publish Stolen Data Online Because Their Ransom Demands Have Not Been Met, but GTA 6 Dev Insists 'This Incident Has No Impact'

The hackers who accessed Grand Theft Auto 6 developer Rockstar Games person said they volition people the stolen information online due to the fact that their ransom demands person not been met.

The CyberSec Guru reported implicit the play that a hacker radical called ShinyHunters had utilized AI analytics level Anodot, a SaaS cloud-cost monitoring instrumentality Rockstar uses, to breach Rockstar’s Snowflake information warehouse, posing arsenic a morganatic interior service. ShinyHunters acceptable a ransom deadline of April 14, warning: "pay oregon leak."

ShinyHunters' connection successful afloat follows:

"Rockstar GamesYour Snowflake instances were compromised acknowledgment to Anodot.com. Pay oregon leak.This is simply a last informing to scope retired by 14 Apr 2026 earlier we leak on with respective annoying (digital) problems that'll travel your way. Make the close decision. Don't beryllium the adjacent headline.FINAL WARNING PAY OR LEAK."

But successful a connection issued to IGN implicit the weekend, a Rockstar Games spokesperson insisted “a constricted magnitude of non-material institution accusation was accessed,” and stressed the incidental “has nary interaction connected our enactment oregon our players.”

Rockstar's connection successful afloat follows:

"We tin corroborate that a constricted magnitude of non-material institution accusation was accessed successful transportation with a third-party information breach. This incidental has nary interaction connected our enactment oregon our players."

Now, speaking to the BBC, ShinyHunters said Rockstar Games had refused to conscionable their demands, and truthful the stolen information would beryllium published online arsenic warned. The BBC described ShinyHunters arsenic “a prolific radical of English-speaking cybercriminals, thought to beryllium successful their teens, who specialise successful information theft and extortion.” They’re reportedly liable for hacking Ticketmaster, and person a past of breaking into unreality retention systems utilized by large corporations.

As the BBC pointed out, instrumentality enforcement proposal astir the satellite is not to wage cybercriminal ransoms arsenic it fuels the manufacture and determination is nary warrant hackers volition really delete stolen data.

GTA 6 Lucia Caminos Screenshots

Rockstar's connection downplays this latest leak, insisting the accusation is "non-material," and that players and the company's plans are unaffected. But arsenic it stands, we bash not cognize what institution accusation ShinyHunters has obtained. If ShinyHunters follows done connected its threat, those details whitethorn look tomorrow.

Rockstar has suffered a fig of damaging leaks successful the past. In 2022, much than 90 videos and images from an aboriginal mentation of GTA 6 were leaked online by hackers successful what was 1 of gaming's biggest information breaches. "We instrumentality leaks precise earnestly so and they disappoint each of us, it's truly frustrating and upsetting to the team," Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said successful response.

Then, successful December 2023, the archetypal GTA 6 trailer leaked connected X/Twitter little than 24 hours earlier its scheduled premiere, causing Rockstar to officially station the trailer connected YouTube earlier than planned. Rockstar developers took to societal media to explicit their vexation astatine the leak, which Zelnick aboriginal called "disappointing." But, helium insisted, "ultimately, I don't deliberation it wounded us."

GTA 6 is owed retired connected PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S connected November 19, 2026.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].