Rockstar Games reiterated its stance of not negotiating with the hacking group. Despite the eventual release of leaked data, there was no trace of GTA 6 within. Instead, the leak brought satisfaction to shareholders of Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar.
| 📒 | – Leaked Data Released After Refusal to Negotiate; No GTA 6 Material Found – Leaked Data Reveals Revenue: GTA Online Daily Revenue Hits $1.31 Million – Take-Two Stock Rises as Robust Revenue Structure Confirmed |
ShinyHunters, the hacking group, disclosed stolen Rockstar Games data on the dark web. In 2022, Rockstar faced a significant setback as 90 clips of development footage were leaked, revealing unfinished content. Consequently, this recent hack and data disclosure garnered notable industry attention. Nevertheless, the leak turned out to be advantageous rather than detrimental to the company.
The breach occurred through the acquisition of authentication tokens to gain unauthorized entry into Rockstar’s Snowflake cloud environment. Speculation has leaned towards potential exposure of marketing or financial data rather than actual development files. Rockstar has dismissed the leaked materials as ‘a limited amount of non-critical corporate information.’
On the 11th, ShinyHunters accessed internal files and issued a data leak threat unless a ransom was paid. However, as previously stated, Rockstar deemed the data insignificant and stuck to its decision of not engaging in negotiations. Consequently, ShinyHunters released the data on the 14th, in line with their set deadline.
The leaked data did not contain GTA 6 source code, unreleased footage, or marketing information that could impact future release plans. Instead, the release included revenue and user statistics for ‘GTA Online’ and ‘Red Dead Online.’ The data spanned from September 2025 to April 2026, showcasing an average weekly revenue of around $9.59 million and a daily average revenue of approximately $1.31 million. This suggests an annual cumulative revenue of about $500 million (roughly ₩700 billion). Notably, cumulative Shark Card revenue surpassed $5 billion.
Of particular interest is the platform breakdown. In terms of weekly active users, the PS5 led with around 3.47 million, followed by the PS4 with 1.89 million, and the Xbox Series X|S with 1.13 million. The PS5 also topped the revenue charts with about $4.48 million, while PC ranked lowest at approximately $260,000. The data sheds light on why Rockstar emphasizes consoles in its GTA 6 release strategy.
Subsequent to the data release, the stock price of Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two, surged to $207.78 immediately at market opening. Its market capitalization temporarily rose by around $1 billion. Although it later stabilized in the high $200s, it maintained an upward trajectory until market close. Investors perceived the sturdy revenue structure of ‘GTA Online’ in the leaked data rather than the impact of the hack.
With GTA Online generating consistent revenue, expectations are high for the profit potential to expand further upon the release of GTA 6 this November and its subsequent online mode. Contrary to industry apprehensions, this hacking incident has become an opportunity for Rockstar and Take-Two to showcase their resilience.
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