Early footage of Grand Theft Auto (GTA) VI was leaked by a hacker including dozens of videos showing robberies, gunplay and open-world driving.
The leaked content of the next instalment of GTA was posted to an online message board, while the hackers, who also claimed responsibility for Uber’s cyber incident last week, insisted they want to "negotiate a deal".
Shares in Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (NASDAQ:TTWO), the owner of Rockstar Games - the studio that makes GTA - dropped nearly 4% on the hack, as the company started issuing takedown notices on the footage and links to it.
Rockstar said on Twitter: "We recently suffered a network intrusion in which an unauthorised third party illegally accessed and downloaded confidential information from our systems, including early development footage for the next Grand Theft Auto.
"At this time, we do not anticipate any disruption to our live game services nor any long-term effect on the development of our ongoing projects."
The studio went on to express its disappointment that details of the upcoming game were released in such an unusual manner but insisted work on the GTA game will “continue as planned”.
It said it will provide further updates in due course, with an official introduction to the game to be expected when ready.
GTA VI is predicted to generate bookings of £3bn at launch and an annual average of £1.75bn after that, according to Bank of America Global Research.