September 19, 2022
22:55
Rockstar confirmed on Monday the piracy of the future sixth opus of its sulphurous franchise. The incident worries as the sector awaits a blockbuster to boost sales.
This is the story of the hacked pirate. Rockstar Gamesthe video game publisher that dynamited the industry and morality at the turn of the century with its ultra-violent games, admitted on Monday to having been the victim of a hacker. For 24 hours, the internet has been buzzing with some 90 videos from a test version of GTA V, the next installment in its hit series. Grand Theft Auto. “We recently experienced a computer intrusion in which an unauthorized third party illegally accessed confidential information regarding our systemsand uploaded them, including footage from the next Grand Theft Auto,” the studio confirmed in a tweet.
“We are extremely disappointed that details of the next game will be shared with you in this way”, said the publisher, known for its drip communication around its flagship license. Nine years following the release of GTA V, the announcement of the development of he sequel in February alone boosted the price of Take-Two, Rokstar’s parent company, by 7%.
It is on the same forum of the series that the hacker, who calls himself “teapotuberhacker”, shared the videos of the game this Sunday morning. Fairly raw images, which would date from the first drafts of the game made between 2017 and 2021. “From what we’re seeing, the game is further along than many believe and (the leak) won’t have no impact on reception and sales of the game“, Jefferies financial analysts said on Monday.
“If the source code leaks, it might require significant changes under the hood of the game to ensure its stability.”
The source code put up for sale?
It would therefore only be a simple image leak, if it were not for another message from “teapotuberhacker” addressed directly to employees of Rockstar and Take-Two, its parent company: “I am looking to negotiate a OK.” The pirate quickly announced that he had GTA VI source codeas well as that of its predecessor GTA V. A few hours later, he announced that the first was no longer for sale.
If the hacker is telling the truth, it might be the biggest hack in the history of video games. The source code, the real underlying matrix of the game, would allow competitors to copy the mechanics of the blockbuster, or players to cheat in the online multiplayer mode. “If the source code leaks, it might require significant changes under the hood of the game to ensure its stability, and the integrity of the GTA VI Online server once it launches,” Jefferies financial analysts wrote on Monday.
The publisher has not publicly reacted to the hacker’s ransom demands. “Rockstar Games’ current services are unaffected. We have already taken steps to isolate and contain this incident“, Said Take-Two in a press release. The share price had lost 6% on Monday morning, before closing the session with a slight gain of 0.72%.
Difficult deconfinement
If the piracy with still unclear consequences has not penalized the action so much, it is because it has already suffered a lot in recent months, losing 31% since the start of the year. Because the video game industry, following two years of pandemic conducive to gaming, is having a hard time with its deconfinement. Long seen as immune to the recession, the video game sector seems well affected by inflationwhich primarily reduces household leisure expenditure.
In this context of crisis, game publishers are hoping for the sortie d’un blockbuster able to bring gamers back to their console and drive industry sales. GTA VI seemed cut out for this role: according to Bank of America, it should generater $3.5 billion in revenue at launch and an average of $2 billion per year followingwards. But that was without counting “teapotuberhacker” and a hack that might delay the release of the game for several months.
