Users and fans of Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto franchise got a shocking albeit pleasant surprise this week after hackers reportedly leaked some unreleased footage from its next iteration of the wildly popular "Grand Theft Auto" franchise.
The video gaming community was rocked by the emergence online of some screenshots and game-play videos purportedly from the highly anticipated next instalment of "Grand Theft Auto," a simulated video-driving game that has become a mainstay of gamers globally.
On Monday morning, the videogame publisher confirmed the raw footage, which was not yet edited and finalized for the next iteration of Grand Theft Auto VI, was indeed real and had been leaked as the result of a "network intrusion."
"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," Rockstar Games said in a statement posted to Twitter.
"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."
Grand Theft Auto VI May Now be Delayed
Rockstar Games, which is owned by Take-Two Interactive (TTWO), expressed disappointment that some of the details were "shared with you all in this way" but said work on the game will continue, and it looks forward to properly introducing the next game "when it is ready."
The next "Grand Theft Auto" game does not yet have an official release date.
In addition to the security and PR nightmare of being hacked, an additional potential issue for Rockstar Games is a potential delay of Grand Theft Auto VI as the company circles back on how the hack occurred and what it needs to do to prevent further breaches.
It could also prompt the company's management to revisit its work-from-home policy, which some have speculated may have been one of weaknesses that led hackers to breach Rockstar Games' firewalls in the first place.
Gaming community website GTAForums.com, where footage was reportedly first released by the hacker, now features an all-caps message on its homepage urging people not to share or link to "leaked copyrighted material."
What Do Uber and Grand Theft Auto Have In Common?
The breach at the gaming giant comes on the heels of a "cybersecurity incident" disclosed by Uber (UBER) last week. In a blog post Monday, Uber said the hack it suffered was believed to be affiliated with the group Lapsus$, which has targeted a number of large businesses over the past year.
"There are also reports over the weekend that this same actor breached video game maker Rockstar Games," Uber's statement on Monday added. "We are in close coordination with the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice on this matter and will continue to support their efforts."
The scale of the hack was extensive since Uber's cloud systems, security tools, internal databases and even Slack were compromised, Chris Lehman, CEO of SafeGuard Cyber, a Charlottesville, Va.-based cybersecurity company, told TheStreet.
Uber's app contains a lot of personal information such as cell phone numbers, email addresses and credit card information, and the app itself has GPS monitoring -- something that could pose risks to users if "this attack been carried out by a sophisticated hacking group," Lehman said.
It is still not known how many customers and Uber drivers had their information exposed to hackers or how soon it may wind up on the darknet.
