The hackers who accessed Grand Theft Auto 6 developer Rockstar Games have said they will publish the stolen data online because their ransom demands have not been met.
The CyberSec Guru reported over the weekend that a hacker group called ShinyHunters had used AI analytics platform Anodot, a SaaS cloud-cost monitoring tool Rockstar uses, to breach Rockstar’s Snowflake data warehouse, posing as a legitimate internal service. ShinyHunters set a ransom deadline of April 14, warning: "pay or leak."
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ShinyHunters' statement in full follows:
"Rockstar Games
Your Snowflake instances were compromised thanks to Anodot.com. Pay or leak.
This is a final warning to reach out by 14 Apr 2026 before we leak along with several annoying (digital) problems that'll come your way. Make the right decision. Don't be the next headline.
FINAL WARNING PAY OR LEAK."
But in a statement issued to IGN over the weekend, 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."
Now, speaking to the BBC, ShinyHunters said Rockstar Games had refused to meet their demands, and so the stolen data would be published online as warned. The BBC described ShinyHunters as “a prolific group of English-speaking cybercriminals, thought to be in their teens, who specialise in data theft and extortion.” They’re reportedly responsible for hacking Ticketmaster, and have a history of breaking into cloud storage systems used by big corporations.
As the BBC pointed out, law enforcement advice around the world is not to pay cybercriminal ransoms as it fuels the industry and there is no guarantee hackers will actually delete stolen data.
Rockstar's statement downplays this latest leak, insisting the information is "non-material," and that players and the company's plans are unaffected. But as it stands, we do not know what company information ShinyHunters has obtained. If ShinyHunters follows through on its threat, those details may emerge tomorrow.
Rockstar has suffered a number of damaging leaks in the past. In 2022, more than 90 videos and images from an early version of GTA 6 were leaked online by hackers in what was one of gaming's biggest security breaches. "We take leaks very seriously indeed and they disappoint all of us, it's really frustrating and upsetting to the team," Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said in response.
Then, in December 2023, the first GTA 6 trailer leaked on X/Twitter less than 24 hours before its scheduled premiere, causing Rockstar to officially post the trailer on YouTube earlier than planned. Rockstar developers took to social media to express their frustration at the leak, which Zelnick later called "disappointing." But, he insisted, "ultimately, I don't think it hurt us."
GTA 6 is due out on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S on November 19, 2026.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].