After hackers leaked stolen data allegedly revealing how much money GTA Online and Red Dead Online make for Rockstar Games, the share price of parent company Take-Two actually went up, suggesting the company was unaffected by its release.
Rockstar Games hackers ShinyHunters released the stolen data on April 13 — a day before they threatened to — and in the process revealed alleged revenue for GTA Online and Red Dead Online. But, crucially, no GTA 6 information has leaked online.
The stolen data was viewed by GTA Forums user Lexiture and reported on by Kotaku. It shows GTA Online allegedly generates much more money than Red Dead Online, which doesn't come as a big surprise given the difference in support Rockstar gives each live service. It also shows that PS5 is the platform with the most GTA Online players and revenue, with PC lagging behind even the last generation of consoles on both counts.
In a statement issued to IGN ahead of the leak, a Rockstar Games spokesperson insisted “a limited amount of non-material company information was accessed,” and stressed the incident “has no impact on our organization or our players.”
Rockstar's statement in full follows:
"We can confirm that a limited amount of non-material company information was accessed in connection with a third-party data breach. This incident has no impact on our organization or our players."
The stolen data allegedly revealed the huge amount of money GTA Online in particular brings in, even now over a decade after launch, although again, none of it should have come as much of a surprise given GTA 5 has sold over 225 million units worldwide.
Yesterday, April 14, Take-Two’s stock jumped from $202.26 to a peak of $207.78 before settling on $205.10, suggesting the leak had no negative impact on investor sentiment. Rockstar has yet to comment on the leak itself.
GTA 6 is planned for release this November on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S only.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
