Why it matters: Despite many attempts to address the issue, cheating is still a widespread problem in Grand Theft Auto V. Many use software to give them an unfair advantage in the game's popular online multiplayer, but last week saw hackers briefly able to harass people who were enjoying the single-player mode.
In a Reddit post from last Thursday, Twitch streamer 'FriendlyBaron' writes that a 'modder' who killed him and some friends earlier in the week also killed him during a solo speedrun on that day. FriendlyBaron shared a video of his character exiting a car before suddenly dying for no obvious reason. The troll was also able to spawn jets into his game.
Other GTA V players reported experiencing similar things. In this Twitch clip, SnowieLive is kicked from an online game by a hacker and is then repeatedly killed in the solo mode.
The ability to mess with people in GTA V's single-player element comes from a mod menu with the newly found ability to discover someone's Rockstar Social Club ID. The number can be used with the hacking tool to access admin-only features that affect single-player games. Abilities include: Rockstar admin kick, Network kick, Ragdoll, Fake money correction, Kill, Spawn vehicle, and send crew message.
Rockstar is reported to have patched the vulnerability over the weekend, but the company will likely be embarrassed to see the tight integration between its single and multiplayer modes exploited like this, even if it was only temporarily.
Last week, Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games recently obtained a court order to search the homes of five people who are allegedly connected to the 'Infamous' mod menu for GTA Online.