GTA 6 Leak Was “Terribly Unfortunate,” Take-Two Boss Says

Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 6 suffered a major leak in September, and the head of parent company Take-Two has now reacted to the development. During Take-Two’s latest earnings briefing, Strauss Zelnick said the leak was “terribly unfortunate,” but it shouldn’t impact GTA 6’s ongoing production.

“It was terribly unfortunate and we take those sorts of incidents very seriously indeed. There’s no evidence that any material assets were taken, which is a good thing. And certainly, the leak won’t have any influence on development or anything of the sort,” Zelnick said. “But it is terribly disappointing and causes us to be ever more vigilant on matters relating to cybersecurity.”

In September, someone posted video and images from an in-development version of the next Grand Theft Auto. The scale and extent of the leak was unprecedented for a Rockstar Games project, and Take-Two’s lawyers and other authorities wasted no time going after the perpetrator.

Responding to the leak, Rockstar said an “unauthorized third party illegally accessed and downloaded confidential information from our systems…” This included “early development footage” of the next Grand Theft Auto game. “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,” Rockstar said.

The GTA 6 leak seemingly corroborated reports that the game is set in Vice City and will feature a Bonnie & Clyde-inspired heist story. Following the emergence of the leak, Rockstar owner Take-Two filed DMCA requests to remove footage from the internet. Additionally, the forum that originally hosted the leak, GTAForums, has removed the post at the request of Take-Two.

There is no word yet on when GTA 6 will be released, or what its official title may be. GTA V continues to soar, reaching 170 million copies sold. The game’s multiplayer mode, GTA Online, brings in additional cash through microtransactions.