GTA 5's Leaked Xbox 360 Data Reveals PC, PS4 Build Code

[Update: Additional assets for the PC version of GTA 5 have been discovered right here]

By now everyone should be well aware that Grand Theft Auto V has been leaked for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, right? Well you should also know that most crackers don't just dump and upload a game, they fiddle with the code, they play with the file structures and ultimately they open the game up to see what's inside. Do you guys want to know what they found inside?

When modding games on consoles it's sometimes fun to see how a game is structured. For a lot of newer games, though, the files are heavily encoded and unless you have the source files it's tough to mod console games or take a peek inside their inner workings. However, with a lot of patience and a little bit of torrenting, the sewage of the internet managed to cook up some interesting results... I'm talking about the folk over at 4Chan.

A cross-post on Reddit links to an alleged Pastebin file containing an XML of the config file for the Xbox 360 version of GTA. Just in case Rockstar has Take Two put their lackey lawyers on the link, here's an image of the XML. (UPDATE: These links have been deactivated by legal request).

Of course, there's the obvious skeptical take that we have to address first and foremost: Could someone have wasted their time to type out nearly 2,000 lines of code and paste it online and say it's from the Xbox 360 version? Yes, very much so. However, I'm here to tell you from personal experience, it's easier to have copied the contents of the file from the leaked torrent and uploaded it online than to re-type it.

For those of you wondering why build code for the PC, PS3 and PS4 would be in an Xbox 360 config file, a few other games also had similar config files in their SDK with multiple configurations for different platforms, including Borderlands, Unreal Tournament 3 and Star Wars: Battlefront 2 just to name a few. Heck, there are even PS3 and Xbox 360 configuration settings for APB: Reloaded if you bother to look through the data folders.

To better explain this for newbies: Most developers build games around a general code base and configure the game's specifications per platform within a single config file, as opposed to building new code or separate config files for each and every platform. The only time the code will drastically changed is when a mobile or portable port is involved.

As for the 360 config file... the different pool sizes you see roughly relates to how much of 'X' will be stored in memory based on platform specifications. Most of every AAA multiplatform game has a file like this to scale texture, draw distance, particle effects or actor data to each platform.

As you'll notice, there are specifications for the Xbox 360, PC, PS3 and Orbis, or the PlayStation 4 (viz., the Orbis is the name of the PS4's operating system when working with the dev kit).

This shouldn't be too surprising given that Sony inadvertently leaked it beforehand that GTA V would be arriving on the PS4. In addition to this, information on the PC and PS4 versions of Grand Theft Auto V were also leaked on Amazon Germany, according to Gaming Bolt. Amazon France also listed a PC version of GTA V, according to IGN.

Now let's put the information together: The current-gen versions of the game don't look anything like the promotional footage. The Xbox 360 leaked files – if they are to be believed – contains configuration data assets for next-gen and PC versions of GTA V. Amazon mistakenly leaks listings of the game for PC and PS4 and Sony mistakenly blurts out that the game is coming to their console.

Now I'm sure there are some fanboys who are diehard intent on believing that GTA V will be seventh-gen exclusive, but the evidence at this point looks kind of overwhelming wouldn't you say? Besides, I doubt Rockstar would invest that much time and effort into the high-poly, high-density, high-quality assets for the game just so that they couldn't be used on today's geriatric home consoles.

If you're still intent on getting the current generation version of the game, feel free to scour your options with the midnight release plan. If you think this news is bogus... feel free to take a look at the assets for yourself. Be warned, though, Take Two is on the lookout for any pre-release access of the game, which is why they're working with Microsoft to ban Xbox 360 consoles.