‘Grand Theft Auto’ leaks emerge online after publisher hit by ‘network intrusion’

By Catherine Thorbecke, CNN Business

Rockstar Games confirmed on Monday that hackers had 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 installment of “Grand Theft Auto,” an action-adventure game.

On Monday morning, the video game publisher confirmed the footage was 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 announced 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.”

Rockstar Games, which is owned by Take-Two Interactive, 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.

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.”

The breach at the gaming giant comes on the heels of a “cybersecurity incident” disclosed by Uber last week. In a blog post Monday, Uber reported that its hacker 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 US Department of Justice on this matter and will continue to support their efforts.”

Rockstar did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the hackers behind its leak were affiliated with Lapsus$.

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