The GTA 6 leak cost Rockstar $5 million and "thousands of hours of staff time"

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The GTA 6 leak had massive ramifications for Rockstar

GTA 6 trailer screenshots
(Image credit: Rockstar Games)

Last year's GTA 6 leak cost Rockstar $5 million plus "thousands of hours of staff time," the developer told a UK court. 

On December 21, the BBC reported that Arion Kurtaj, a key member of the international hacking group Lapsus$, had been sentenced to indefinite life in a hospital prison due to his alleged involvement in the GTA 6 leak, and "intent to return to cybercrime as soon as possible." 

During the proceedings, Rockstar told the court that the hack had cost the company $5 million to recover, plus "thousands of hours' worth of staff time." The leak, which took place in September 2022, released over 90 screenshots and videos of an early build of GTA 6 - which at this point had barely been announced as in development. 

Although the leak was "extremely" disappointing for Rockstar, it seems the developer more than made it up to fans when it released the official GTA 6 trailer earlier this month. Unfortunately, this wasn't without its issues, as the trailer leaked a day earlier than its official reveal. 

Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.