Rockstar hack backfires and sends Take Two shares skyrocketing

Last week, a hacker group gained access to a limited number of Rockstar Games files and threatened to leak them unless Rockstar paid a ransom fee. Rockstar didn't pay, and as expected, the group did leak the files. The whole situation appears to have backfired, as the leak contained nothing but glowing financial results for the studio, causing Take Two's stock to go up. 

The leaked files contained up-to-date financial information for the current iteration of GTA Online, revealing that the game continues to make over $500 million every year, more than a decade on from its launch.

The leak appears to have inadvertently helped Rockstar parent company, Take-Two Interactive, as the company's stock shot up when trading opened yesterday morning, adding around $1 billion to its market cap.

Take Two is expected to have a very high-performing financial year, as Rockstar Games is due to release Grand Theft Auto 6 in November, along with the next-generation version of GTA Online.

KitGuru Says: The Rockstar hack was indeed real, but the information gathered wasn't much of a shock to anyone who has paid attention to the success of GTA 5 over the years. Even now, the game still shoots into monthly top-ten sales lists around the world. 

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