Grand Theft Auto 6 developer Rockstar Games is blocking replies on Twitter. While the company hasn’t given a reason for this decision, it comes not long after the massive leak of the next Grand Theft Auto game.
On September 18, an apparent hacker leaked numerous videos, assets, and even some of the code from the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6. Rockstar Games quickly began pulling the leaked content on copyright grounds, later confirming that the leaks were genuine.
Rockstar announced two new cars and a variety of events and changes for Grand Theft Auto Online. The developer announced the latest content over Twitter but took the unusual step of blocking replies. A glance through Rockstar’s Twitter history confirms that the company only started doing so after Rockstar Games acknowledged the hack in a statement on Monday. And while a single tweet hardly constitutes a trend, it seems very likely that the two events are related.
In the statement on Monday, Rockstar explained that the studio suffered a network intrusion orchestrated by a third party. Said hacker, who is believed to be part of the same group that targeted Uber earlier this month, illegally downloaded footage showing an early development build for the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6. While not acknowledged by Rockstar’s official statement, the hacker or hackers also claimed to have access to GTA 5 and GTA 6’s source code. However, there’s no evidence that hackers have released either. Rockstar claims that the hack did not affect any of its live-service games and that the development of Grand Theft Auto 6 continues as planned.
However, it is still unclear why Rockstar blocked replies on its latest tweet. The replies to the developer’s previous statement on Twitter were overwhelmingly positive, with most GTA fans expressing support for the company. Some even commented that the leaked footage of Grand Theft Auto 6 looked impressive, given its clearly unfinished state. Of course, there were a few negative or heckling comments, but nothing unusual for a tweet from a major game studio like Rockstar.
However, that’s not to say the leaks have been entirely free of controversy either. Some fans criticized the early-alpha footage, seemingly believing that it is indicative of how Grand Theft Auto 6 will look upon the game’s release. This includes some unflattering comparisons to the graphics of Ubisoft’s 2016 game Watch Dogs 2. Other criticisms seem to come from observers not realizing that placeholder assets and debugging text were not actually part of the game’s UI.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is in development.