Take-Two 'Enhancing' Technical Defenses and Legal Activities to Combat GTA 6 AI Reverse-Engineering Threat

The boss of Rockstar parent company Take-Two has responded to the threat of AI-assisted reverse-engineering and decompilation of games ahead of the crucial launch of GTA 6.

As you've probably seen from various viral clips on social media, people are using AI to create clones of popular games and release them on platforms they're not normally available on. We've seen everything from Minecraft playable inside X/Twitter to modders crashing Minecraft and Elden Ring together. Indeed, last month, Rockstar's own Grand Theft Auto 5 was made playable in a browser before it was pulled offline.

Seemingly in response, Anthropic issued an update for Claude that made it harder for people to use the AI model to generate video game clones. But there is perhaps a greater concern: that GTA 6 could pop up on PC soon after it hits PlayStation and Xbox in unofficial form.

While there is some scepticism about the true threat here, recent discussions around tools like Claude have sparked speculation that AI can quickly decompile or recompile complex console games like GTA 6 into PC ports. And some believe the AI threat could force Rockstar into changing its plans. In an interview with IGN sister site RPS last week, former Rockstar North technical director Obbe Vermeij said that Rockstar Games may be keen to port GTA 6 to PC as soon as possible, due to the explosion of AI-generated clones and ports.

Some of this concern has to do with the security of the PS5, with Sony seemingly engaged in a game of Whac-a-Mole with hackers who are trying to jailbreak the latest firmware ahead of the release of GTA 6. If a PS5 jailbreak is made available for the firmware that is required by GTA 6 to run, it may be possible for Rockstar’s game to be pirated on PS5 and subsequently made available on PC.

IGN asked Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two, about this existential threat in a recent interview — and it’s fair to say he’s taking it seriously, while also insisting that fans will prefer to play GTA 6 officially, with all its bells and whistles as Rockstar intended, over an unofficial PC version.

Here’s the exchange:

IGN: We've seen hackers using AI to clone games much faster than ever before, even try to jailbreak consoles. And there is some concern about this leading to potentially GTA 6 being made available on PC unofficially or places that you aren't releasing it. I was just wondering how much of a threat this is to your business? And, is there anything meaningful you can do about it?

Strauss Zelnick: I don't think it’s a financial matter, in terms of a threat to our business. I do think it’s a creative matter. It's important to everyone, our developers and our consumers alike, to deliver the experience Rockstar envisions. And at the same time, of course, we protect our intellectual property vigilantly. So we are focused on these concerns. We're not in the least cavalier about them. Technology is advancing quickly. And at the same time, I do think that pretty much everyone wants the Rockstar experience as Rockstar intended.

IGN: Related, last week Anthropic confirmed they took steps to block Claude from reverse engineering video games. I would assume you would welcome that. And would you like to see other AI companies like OpenAI do the same thing to prevent people from using these powerful AI models to clone your games?

Strauss Zelnick: I think all companies should be protecting intellectual property, their own and everyone else's. And if you're in the intellectual property business, which Anthropic is and OpenAI is, then it seems ironic on the one hand to stomp on someone else's IP and hope that yours is protected.

During an investor-focused Q&A after the release of Take-Two’s latest financial report, attended by IGN, Zelnick was asked multiple times about this AI reverse-engineering problem. He, again, had strong words in response, suggesting Take-Two was ready to lawyer up.

“This business has been largely immune to piracy concerns forever because of file sizes, complexity of piracy, being connected to servers and the like,” he began. “And undoubtedly, it would be very difficult to replicate the experience of consuming our game as intended because of technical limitations.

“That said, it's going to become more of a challenge, as you said, and we're aware of that. So we are utterly focused on enhancing our technical defenses and enhancing our legal activities appropriately. And at the same time, without in any way being cavalier, every entertainment business that exists is subject to some element of piracy. So this is likely to invade our business to a greater or lesser extent. I think it will be manageable and we are focused on it.”

Zelnick’s talk about legal activities sparks an obvious question: what can game companies do about AI-assisted reverse engineering? In a recent IGN feature exploring the impact of AI cloning on GTA 6, head of Nightdive Studios, Stephen Kick, suggested lawyers have already sprung into action.

“I can't even imagine what the lawyers are going through right now with all the major publishers,” he said. "What do we do? How many cease and desist letters do we need to send out? How can we capitalize on this? How can we integrate this into our own business model right now?"

The PlayStation homebrew scene has made headlines in the last month for releasing PS5 jailbreaks for prior firmwares. For example, late September, a jailbreak that supported all PS5 consoles running firmware 7.00-13.60 sent shockwaves through the homebrew community because, at the time, it meant that all PS5s, including the PS5 Pro, that hadn't been updated within the previous week were compatible with the jailbreak. This was of huge significance for Sony and the security of the PS5, as people with a jailbroken PS5 can modify their console, potentially opening the door to video game piracy. However, it was found that some PS5 games subsequently required the more recent 14.00 firmware in order to download updates, sparking a renewed effort to release a new jailbreak for the updated system software.

So, there is a game of Whac-A-Mole at play where the homebrew scene is working to release a new jailbreak for the latest PS5 firmware, then do it all over again when Sony releases a new firmware update designed to beef up security. Some believe GTA 6 will require at least 14.20 or potentially 14.22. And Sony may release further security updates before November 19.

The question for Sony is whether it can do enough to eventually win this game of Whac-A-Mole with the homebrew scene. This is something of an existential crisis for the PlayStation manufacturer, which publishers and developers rely upon for the security of their PlayStation releases. But with the emergence of powerful AI models, the stakes have risen significantly.