It's still Christmas Eve here in the States, but in some parts of the world it's already Christmas Day. Perhaps it's that "spirit of giving" that pushed one "random British guy in the 360 modding community" to publicly release the full Grand Theft Auto 5 source code.
News of this public release started to trickle out late in the day on December 24. It was first mentioned by @GTAFocal on Twitter. That Grand Theft Auto focused account said that the full source code was publicly leaked. The news was then backed by another Twitter account, this time from @PC_Focus_, who claims that the leak contains the full source code for Grand Theft Auto 5, plus "stuff from Bully 2" as well as some things from Grand Theft Auto 6.
The full source code was allegedly shared in a Discord server by some "random British guy" that is apparently a part of the Xbox 360 modding community. This "random British guy" has been "known to get sued by Rockstar" and has allegedly been sued multiple times. Despite these lawsuits against said individual, the people sharing news about this evening's leaks stopped short of actually saying the leaker's name.
Users that have already gotten their hands on this leak have begun to post images in Discord servers. These images include looks at "old maps, emails, rage engine, release notes," and more.
As we understand it, tonight's leak is not from a new hack of Rockstar Games. Rather, this source code is allegedly from the hack that took place in late 2022. This is the same hack on Rockstar Games that saw at least one teenager sentenced to an indefinite detainment at a secure hospital.
As over 90 clips of Grand Theft Auto 6 began to leak online in late 2022, the hacker also claimed to have stolen the source code for Grand Theft Auto 5. That source code was previously never fully shared to the public. Snippets of it were shared as proof of the hackers claims, but the full code was said to be privately "traded between individuals."
If this leak is legitimate, it is too early to tell just what sort of impact this may have on GTA Online or other Rockstar projects.
