According to reports by IGN and others, the developer R., Manhunter Six, recently issued a statement on the release of data as a result of third-party attacks. According to R.S., only “unimportant small-scale business information” is leaked and will have no impact on players and company operations.
The data leak was considered to be related to the cybercrime organization Shiny Hunters, which has been active since around 2020. The organization has targeted businesses for illegal visits and ransoms by threatening to divulge or sell data. In 2020, Shiny Hunters claimed to have stolen 500 G from Microsoft’s private GitHub warehouse. Microsoft subsequently confirmed that some of the accounts had been illegally accessed, but stressed that the leak code did not contain a critical commercial core and did not pose a significant threat to products. In January 2026, ShinyHunters was accused of having successfully attacked large businesses such as Panera Bread, using loopholes or configurations in Microsoft Entra ‘ s single point log-in system, leading to the disclosure of millions of user records. According to the information security website The CyberSec Guru, ShinyHunters claimed, on 11 April, that it had invaded the Snowflake server of R through Anodot and issued an “ultimatum” to R, threatening not to pay ransoms before 14 April, leaking information and creating “hard digital problems”. The exact amount of the ransom is not yet known.
It should be noted that the above-mentioned Anodot is a business data analysis company, SaaS. The data leak was not a direct attack on the R star or cloud data service Snowflake, nor was it a direct breach of its security system. Anodot uses AI to analyse business data and detect anomalies. The service provides an analytical platform linked to Snowflake data. During the incident, Snowflake of R-Star was believed to have been illegally visited. According to reports, Shiny Hunters illegally visited cloud-held data using the authentication badge obtained from the Anodot invasion. The question now is, which information was stolen? R.S. has stated that “a small amount of unimportant business information has been confirmed to flow, but this will not affect companies or players”. Although the statement diluted the incident, it did not indicate that R.S. did not anticipate a disruptive leak attack in the first half of the year prior to the sale of GTA6, nor did it suggest that future plans would be affected. In the past, R. was exposed to numerous data leaks and losses. In 2022, hackers leaked over 90 earlier developed versions of GTA6, one of the most serious security incidents in the history of the game. At that time, an 18-year-old member of the hacker organization Lapsus was arrested. “We value this leak very much, and it is really frustrating and sad for the team.” In December 2023, the first GTA6 trailer was leaked on social platforms 24 hours before the official release, resulting in Star R having to release earlier. Developmentists have expressed their dissatisfaction with the matter in social media.
GTA 6 will be officially sold on 19 November 2026.
