Teenage GTA 6 Hacker Accused of Blackmailing Rockstar With Releasing Sequel’s Source Code

Grand Theft Auto VI is one of the most anticipated games of all time. Due to its notoriety, it has also become a major target for hacking. According to a recent Reuters article, this involved a hacker sending a message to all Rockstar staff on his Slack for the company, threatening to release the GTA VI source code. .

according to Reuters, the accused hacker is Arion Kurtaj, a teenage member of the Lapsus$ hacking group. He has been charged with 12 counts, including three counts of extortion, two counts of fraud and six counts under the UK Computer Misuse Act.

In addition to Rockstar, Kurtaj is also accused of targeting companies including Revolt, Uber and Nvidia, and blackmailing British broadband provider BT Group into a $4 million ransom. Kurtaj was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial.

In 2022, Rockstar Games suffered a “network intrusion” that resulted in a large number of unfinished gameplay and assets leaked to social media. Rockstar acted quickly to remove the leaked material, but was unable to completely prevent its spread. It also appeared in Goat Simulator 3, but was quickly removed.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said following the leak: “We take the leak very seriously and it’s a let down to all of us. It’s really frustrating and upsetting for the team. There are,” he said. “But as a business matter, we are not affected. But as a personal matter, and an emotional one, our team is.”

Kurtaj was not named at the time, but Uber published a blog saying it was working with the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate its own data breach, and that it was behind the Rockstar breach. It was revealed that he suspected that it was the same hacker who was there.

We don’t know when GTA 6 will be released, but it could be as early as next year. In the meantime, a jury will try to determine whether Mr. Kurtaj is responsible for the hacking allegations, but no guilt or innocence verdict.

Kat Bailey is IGN’s Director of News and co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Any tips? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.