An American hacker has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal intellectual property and corporate data, claimed by the FBI to be worth at least $100m (£66m).
Nathan Leroux, 20, of Maryland, took information relating to the games console Xbox One and its online network Xbox Live, as well as similar data from FIFA, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Gears of War 3, between 2011 and 2012.
He was joined in this by Sanadodeh Nesheiwat, 28, of New Jersey, and David Pokora, 22, of Ontario in Canada, who had previously admitted their culpability in September of last year.
Similar charges have also been lodged against Austin Alcala, 19, of Indiana, in a case that remains pending.
Alongside Microsoft, the hackers targeted Valve, Epic Games and Zombie Studios, accessing unreleased software, source code, other trade secrets, and financial data.
Leroux told the court that the group had even built a knock-off Xbox One, one example of which was intercepted by the FBI on its way to the Republic of Seychelles.
The group also found a way to generate in-game currency for FIFA that can be used by players to build a dream team to compete with online, selling the product through online markets.
Estimates for the value of data stolen and the cost of remediation by the companies affected range from $100m to $200m (£66m to £132m), though the US has only taken $620,000 (£410,000) in cash and other proceeds related to the charges.
