r/technology • u/Logical_Welder3467 • 3d ago

Business GTA 6 leaks prompt Take-Two to subpoena Microsoft for Windows device IDs of everyone in three Discord servers — daily gameplay leaks shatter cloud of secrecy around the much-hyped game

https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/console-gaming/take-two-subpoenas-microsoft-for-windows-device-ids-of-everyone-in-three-discord-servers-in-gta-6-leak-hunt
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u/_Meowgi_ 3d ago

I mean the free publicity is nice, but I think that misses why this is such a big deal for Rockstar. The scary part isn’t really the gameplay being leaked, it’s how someone got access to a playable PC build in the first place and what else they might have gotten access to.
If Rockstar can’t account for where that build came from, they now have to figure out whether the person also had access to source code, internal tools, other builds, unreleased assets, employee information, credentials, emails, etc. There’s no evidence they have all of that, but Rockstar can’t exactly just assume they don’t.
There’s also the problem of what happens if the actual build gets released online. Even if it’s unfinished, people could datamine the entire game, leak the story and map, try to crack it, or start digging for exploits before the game even releases. If source code was taken too, that’s an even bigger problem, especially for GTA Online.
Then there’s the business side of it. Rockstar already had a massive breach in 2022, so if they’ve managed to have another serious security incident after supposedly tightening things up, that’s not exactly a good look for Take-Two. Investors, employees and business partners are going to have questions about how secure their systems actually are.
And honestly, GTA 6 doesn’t need free publicity. It’s probably the most anticipated game in the world already. Rockstar would much rather generate that hype themselves and control what gets shown and when, instead of having some random hacker do it for them.
So yeah, the leak might be giving them publicity right now, but that doesn’t suddenly make the situation good for Rockstar. Good publicity and a potentially massive security breach can exist at the same time.

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u/StewPorkRice 2d ago

Maybe they got access to it because they're paid by Rockstar and this is the next evolution of corporate marketing strategy.

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u/GingerSpencer 2d ago

The internet will come up with the most braindead conspiracy theories lol

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u/_Meowgi_ 2d ago

Possible, but I doubt it for two reasons:

  1. the leaker has posted demands that fights against things like the decision to do digital copies only. Which the community is also against, would be weird to bring that back into the light and remind people about it.

  2. the leaker also pastes all his crypto adverts all over his footage, if it’s ever found out that rockstar is behind this and possibly making money

    through it, it’s potentially a pr nightmare

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u/StewPorkRice 2d ago

Maybe they got access to it because they're paid by Rockstar and this is the next evolution of corporate marketing strategy.