GTA Online Earnings Leak Boosts Take-Two Stocks
In what was an attempt to hurt Rockstar, the hacker group ShinyHunters actually aided Take-Two by leaking GTA Online earnings.
Earlier this week, the hacker group threatened the GTA maker, saying they would release confidential data about the series unless their demands were met, which was $200,000. While Rockstar confirmed the threat was legitimate, they claimed the hacker group didn’t have anything that would impact the studio or the development of GTA 6.
The hacker group released the information in hopes of hurting Rockstar, but it did quite the opposite. The released information focused on how much money GTA Online is currently making across the five platforms.
The data showed that GTA Online was making somewhere over $1 million daily and around $500 million annually. The breach boosted Take-Two Interactive’s stock price from $202 to nearly $208 per share, according to T Break. Apparently, this surge added around $1 billion to the mega publisher’s market cap.
The money is earned by players buying Shark Cards, which gives players in-game currency. According to Video Games Chronicle, Shark Cards range in price from $250,000 in-game dollars for $4.99/£3.29 to $10,000,000 of in-game cash for $99.99/£64.99.
Why would investors react positively to something like this, though? Usually, news about hacking seems like a negative. While normally a breach is negative, this was actually a great piece of information for investors. The game was released in 2013 and is still going strong, even with the declining player base.
Essentially, $500 million annually shows that Take-Two knows how to monetise a long-running franchise effectively, and keep a game that was released in 2013 relevant and interesting. Along with that, the excitement of Grand Theft Auto 6 is putting the franchise back at the forefront of everyone’s minds.
Not only is this a great sign for Take-Two, but it’s hilarious to see that a hacker group failed in their mission entirely.
