The wait for Grand Theft Auto VI appeared to turn some fans from virtual criminals into actual lawbreakers when they leaked game footage last year.
More than 90 clips from the next instalment of the violent classic were circulated back in September 2022, and Take-Two's CEO Strauss Zelnick has now opened up about the 'emotional' incident.
The footage, originally posted to the GTAForums, was obtained by a user who claimed to have nicked the files from employees at Take-Two's Rockstar Games.
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The leak included examples of in-game combat and a character which suggested the game could include its first female protagonist.
CEO Zelnick said that while the leak hasn't actually impacted the business, the act felt 'personal' to developers who've spent years working on the game.
The series is one of the most popular ever created and has sold more than 380 million copies worldwide.
Zelnick told IGN: "We take leaks very seriously indeed and they disappoint all of us, it's really frustrating and upsetting to the team.
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"However as a business matter we're not affected. But as a personal matter and an emotional matter, our teams are affected."
The hacker originally claimed they could leak more data, including Grand Theft Auto V and VI source codes and assets.
At the time of the leak, Rockstar Games confirmed 'an unauthorised third party' had accessed and downloaded details of the Grand Theft Auto sequel.
A statement from Rockstar said: “We recently suffered a network intrusion in which an unauthorised third party illegally accessed and downloaded confidential information from our systems, including early development footage for the next Grand Theft Auto.
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“At this time, we do not anticipate any disruption to our live game services nor any long-term effect on the development of our ongoing projects.
“We are extremely disappointed to have any details of our next game shared with you all in this way. Our work on the next Grand Theft Auto game will continue as planned and we remain as committed as ever to delivering an experience to you, our players, that truly exceeds your expectation.
“We will update everyone again soon and, of course, will properly introduce you to this next game when it is ready. We want to thank everyone for their ongoing support through this situation.”
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To put it simply, don't ruin the hard work of developers and just keep refreshing the Rockstar website for that long-awaited release date.
Topics: Gaming, Grand Theft Auto, Technology