The hacker group ShinyHunters, which had demanded a ransom from GTA 6 developer Rockstar Games, has signaled that negotiations have effectively collapsed and is threatening to release the stolen data.

On the 13th (local time), the BBC reported on its contact with ShinyHunters, the group claiming to have breached Rockstar's systems. The group stated that it would release the stolen data online because Rockstar refused to meet its demands.

On the 11th, ShinyHunters claimed on its dark web site that it had obtained authentication tokens to gain unauthorized access to Rockstar's Snowflake cloud environment and steal data. The group set a deadline of the 14th for the ransom payment, threatening further attacks if their demands were not met.

Rockstar has maintained a minimal official stance, stating that it has 'confirmed that a limited amount of non-critical corporate information was accessed.' However, some suggest this is an attempt to downplay the situation, as the importance of the data is being defined by Rockstar itself. Others argue that Rockstar is refusing to pay because the stolen data lacks significant value.

Given the group's track record, it is unlikely that these threats are empty. In 2024, ShinyHunters hacked Ticketmaster, stealing information on 560 million customers before attempting to sell the data. That same year, they claimed to be selling the information of 30 million customers from Santander Bank in Spain, Chile, and Uruguay. Additionally, last year, they claimed to have stolen search history, viewing/download activity, and location data from a third-party analytics firm used by Pornhub, and in 2026, it was revealed that they had exfiltrated over 350GB of data from the European Commission.

Meanwhile, some analysts suggest that the leaked data is more likely to consist of internal business documents—such as financial records, contracts, marketing plans, and player spending data—rather than player account information or game source code. Consequently, the prevailing view is that there will be no major leaks that would lead to significant game information exposure or delays. However, as Rockstar is preparing a large-scale global marketing campaign for the game's launch, some speculate that if the schedule data is leaked, Rockstar might preemptively release the promotional materials themselves.

In 2022, 90 development video clips of GTA 6 were leaked by a member of the international hacker group Lapsus$. At the time, Rockstar stated that the incident would not impact its services and subsequently strengthened its security measures.