Take-Two, TrustedReviews reach legal settlement over Red Dead Redemption 2 leak
'Over £1 million' settlement to be directed to three charities after February article leak of confidential document
British magazine publisher TI Media has issued an apology on behalf of its website, TrustedReviews, for a February article that leaked details about Red Dead Redemption 2 from an allegedly confidential corporate document. It has also paid out a settlement of 'over £1 million [$1.3 million].'
An apology has been published in place of the original article from TrustedReviews, which initially leaked details of the game such as a (thus-far unseen) battle royale mode.
"On February 6, 2018, we published an article that was sourced from a confidential corporate document," the apology reads. "We should have known this information was confidential and should not have published it. We unreservedly apologise to Take-Two Games and we have undertaken not to repeat such actions again. We have also agreed to donate over £1 million to charities chosen by Take-Two Games."
Variety reports that the donation mentioned in the apology is likely far more imperative than a nice gesture. A statement issued by Take-Two specifically refers to the money as a "settlement" that is being directed by Take-Two to three charities: the American Indian College Fund, the American Prairie Reserve, and the First Nations Development Institute.
"Take-Two takes security seriously and will take legal action against people or publications who leak confidential information," the statement says. It is not specified exactly what the legal action take in this case entailed, or what British, American, or other laws were broken (if any) due to the leak.
For the record: A previous version of this story misattributed the statement about the "settlement" as coming from Rockstar, when the statement is actually from Take-Two. The attribution has been fixed above.