[bakugo]

Yes, but GTA5 leaked a decade after its release. Rockstar didn't really suffer any significant damage from it.

If 6 leaks before release, though, that's a completely different story. I can imagine them actually paying a ransom if that happened.

[dvratil]

Maybe I'm missing something, but how would GTA6 source leak really harm Rockstar? I mean it's unlikely it would be possible to compile a full working game from the leak, and even if so, it's such a non-trivial task, that I don't believe it would hurt sales /that/ much.

The only thing I can imagine is the story would get spoiled on the internet, but that's about it.

[mh-]

I feel the need to say it shouldn't be this way, to avoid an onslaught of replies, but:

It would be dramatically easier to discover and exploit vulnerabilities/glitches in their multiplayer experience, which is their cash cow.

[3eb7988a1663]

On the other hand, maybe the community could submit bug fixes for loading times.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26296339

[leapingdog]

I may be misremembering a drunken conversation with a developer but IIRC the root cause was choice of cross-platform APIs available in early 2010s & the JSON file was tiny when introduced.

[3eb7988a1663]

The problem was not in delivering JSON. There were better ways, but it was good enough.

The failure is that loading times had been a complaint for years, and nobody involved lifted a finger. It would be impossible to use the platform without feeling the pain.

[leapingdog]

I don't really disagree.

The software was released on 7 platforms, not counting multiple Windows versions. I don't know the risks or what platforms changes impact today or the test effort involved. I expect "it's still functioning as expected" was the default.

[mgol94]

I would speculate that it’s not about individuals compiling and playing without paying, but that with access to the codebase, creating cracks and online cheats would be trivial, which might actually hurt their bottom line

[JCattheATM]

People would compile it and unofficial community servers would quickly pop up.

[Cpoll]

> non-trivial task

This is the sort of challenge hackers love, and the prestige is enormous. If it's possible with the leak, I have to imagine some group will do it.

[esskay]

It'd make it a pain to stop abuse of their online platform when it launches, which is financially problematic given gta 5 online made rockstar billions.

[leapingdog]

If GTA6 leaks they will not release this year & layoffs will follow.

Different era, but shades of the Half Life 2 leak.