Rockstar Games confirms second cyber attack in three years
With hackers claiming to have breached its systems and stolen company data, Rockstar Games has confirmed it has suffered its second cyber attack in three years.
Rockstar Games has confirmed a second cyber attack in three years after hackers claimed to have breached its systems and stolen company data.
The gaming company, best known for the Grand Theft Auto franchise, said the incident involved a third-party cloud provider and insisted there had been no impact on its operations or players.
It was first reported by cybersecurity outlets, with a hacking group claiming responsibility and threatening to release stolen material unless a ransom was paid.
Rockstar said only a “limited amount of non-material company information” had been accessed.
A Rockstar spokesperson told the BBC: “We can confirm that a limited amount of non-material company information was accessed in connection with a third-party data breach.”
They added: “This incident has no impact on our organisation or our players.”
The group behind the attack, calling itself ShinyHunters, told the BBC it had gained access to Rockstar servers and intended to publish the data after its demands were not met.
The group is known for data theft and extortion and is believed to consist of English-speaking cybercriminals, many thought to be in their teens.
It has previously claimed responsibility for attacks on companies including Ticketmaster.
ShinyHunters added it had repeatedly targeted cloud storage systems used by major corporations in recent years and claimed a similar method had been used in the Rockstar breach.
The group also said the stolen material would be released online following the company’s refusal to pay.
Law enforcement agencies advise organisations not to comply with ransom demands, warning payment can encourage further criminal activity and offers no guarantee that stolen data will be deleted.
The incident follows a previous high-profile breach in 2023, when Arion Kurtaj, now 19, carried out an attack on Rockstar. Kurtaj, who was 18 at the time, was later given an indefinite hospital order after stealing data, source code and footage from the unreleased Grand Theft Auto VI.
The breach resulted in around 90 video clips of unfinished gameplay being published online, prompting Rockstar to release an official trailer for the game earlier than planned.
Arion was part of the hacking group Lapsus$, which targeted several major corporations during 2022 and 2023.
