The teenage hacker who infiltrated Rockstar Games' servers earlier in September reportedly sold the source code for Grand Theft Auto V before his arrest.

According to a Reddit post, 17-year-old hacker Teapot sold the stolen source code for Rockstar's best-selling video game on a Telegram group. The administrator of the unnamed group posted a screenshot showing the buyer of the code trying to resell it. The buyer's message said they purchased the code from Teapot hours after the hacker breached Rockstar's servers and attached an image showing a section of the source code to prove their authenticity. If resold and made public, Grand Theft Auto V would become majorly compromised, with modders and pirates able to manipulate the game extensively. While the repercussions of this in the game's single-player mode are not so profound, Rockstar's popular and widely-played GTA Online is built on Grand Theft Auto V, meaning severe issues could arise if hackers acquire the source code.

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The hacker Teapot was arrested at their Oxfordshire home earlier this month for their role in hacking several major corporations like Rockstar, Uber and Microsoft. Part of the hacking group Laspus$, the pirate notoriously leaked over 90 videos of Grand Theft Auto VI, showing a pre-build version of the game full of bugs and broken physics. While the videos were of low quality, they did confirm some rumored details, such as the GTA VI's inclusion of a female protagonist and the game's Vice City setting.

The breach was one of the biggest in recent memory, leading Rockstar to issue a statement decrying the leak and saying it was "extremely disappointed" that the footage was the first thing fans had seen of GTA VI. After revealing that the hacker had targeted not only Rockstar but other companies, the FBI said it would investigate Laspus$ for its role in the various unauthorized disclosures.

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Rockstar confirmed that the development of Grand Theft Auto VI was "well underway" in February 2022, much to the delight of fans who have awaited official confirmation of the game's existence after years of rumors and teasing. Despite the news of an upcoming sequel, Grand Theft Auto V has gone from strength to strength in recent years. Initially released in 2013 on Xbox 360 and PS3, Rockstar ported the game to three generations of consoles and continually supported its multiplayer component, GTA Online.

Since its release, Grand Theft Auto V has sold more than 170 million copies, making it the second highest-selling game in history.

Source: Reddit