The offices of Sam Houser must be really angry this end of the year. After a worker’s son leaked 20 seconds of the GTA 6 trailer ahead of time, a hacker uploaded the entire video on social media the day before the worldwide premiere of the trailer. This forced Rockstar to take action and release the video about 16 hours earlier.
And now, after two leaks in a month, the source code of GTA 5 seems to have been leaked as well, with all that it implies. And it’s not insignificant, especially considering that the game is still Rockstar’s cash cow.
Rumors have emerged suggesting that the source code for Grand Theft Auto 5, along with a wide range of other confidential materials from Rockstar Games, has been leaked online on Christmas Day.
This incident occurred after initial reports last year hinted at a partial leak of GTA 5 source code.
A year to forget and a problem to investigate
Rockstar Games has faced a tumultuous year, dealing with a series of security breaches that have tarnished their operations. Last year, the company was shaken by a breach in its network that led to the unauthorized release of nearly an hour of gameplay from the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6.
The situation became complicated again due to another leak that forced the developers to officially release the trailer ahead of time. And now, it seems that Rockstar Games is facing an even greater challenge with this latest leak.
A recent tweet from GTA Focal reveals that the source code of GTA 5 has been leaked on the Internet, following its previous exchange among individuals. It has been reported that today’s leak affected a 4 GB file mainly composed of code, although a complete version covering the entire source code has not been observed.
This extensive source file, which includes assets and 3D models, would likely allow for the construction and execution of the game. Given the considerable size of the complete source code, which is rumored to be around 200 GB, its leakage seems less straightforward.
Although the original link has been removed, the source code has already started circulating widely on various social media platforms. Apparently, Take-Two Interactive is actively working to remove online links to the source code of Grand Theft Auto 5.
Despite these efforts, reports are emerging of hackers deliberating on the possible release of this extensive 200 GB source file. It is believed that this incident originates from the same security breach that occurred last year, with the key difference being that the files have not been made public until now.
This leak also affects GTA 6
The situation worsens with the revelation that the leak not only affects GTA 5, but also includes files from the long-awaited Bully 2, which has not yet been released, and parts of the GTA 6 code.
In addition, the leak exposes several unreleased files from GTA 5. For example, several unreleased DLCs have been leaked, including the Trevor expansion for GTA 5, which had already appeared in previous reports.
They have also unearthed a development map for a project known as “Agent”, a canceled project that was rumored to be inspired by the James Bond franchise.
The implications of this leak are particularly serious, as it opens up the possibility for hackers to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in the source code, allowing them to remotely execute code on players’ systems.
This poses significant security problems for GTA Online, as the game could quickly become a high-risk environment for players. In addition, fans have noticed that the date coincides with the holiday season, a period in which many developers are likely on vacation, which could worsen the situation for both Rockstar Games and its development team.
