As hackers release stolen data obtained following the cyber security attack of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 developer Insomniac Games, the video game industry is sending messages of support to staff at the studio.
Today, December 19, the hackers who breached Insomniac and vowed to release confidential data unless they were paid 50 BTC, or around $2 million, within seven days made good on their threat. According to Cyber Daily, the ransomware group released 1.67 terabytes of data, made up of more than 1.3 million files which contain a variety of videos and images showing upcoming game Marvel’s Wolverine, Insomniac’s entire release slate up to the early 2030s, and even company contracts. But, most worryingly, the data also includes staff information such as passport scans. Neither Sony nor Insomniac have commented on the latest developments.
In a tweet, Alan Wake 2 developer Remedy Entertainment called the leak of employee personal information “truly disgraceful and shameful”.
Our sympathies to @insomniacgames and all the affected team members. After all the effort and dedication they have poured into their games, they didn’t deserve this. No one does. The hackers also leaked employee’s personal information, which is truly disgraceful and shameful.
— Remedy Entertainment (@remedygames) December 19, 2023
Wushu Studios also offered a message of support:
Sending our love and support to our colleagues at Insomniac.
Game creators work tirelessly to create works of art & entertainment for everyone. To see any team rewarded for this with malicious attacks & blackmail is cruel. We know the @insomniacgames team will persevere. ❤️
— Wushu Studios (@wushustudios) December 19, 2023
A number of individual developers have posted messages, with one saying leaking employee data “is absolutely inexcusable”. Cory Barlog, creative director of God of War developer Sony Santa Monica, a fellow Sony-owned studio, tweeted the following message of support:
💙insomniac✊
— the fake cory balrog (@corybarlog) December 19, 2023
Cyber attacks are of increasing concern to tech companies, with the video game industry suffering a number of breaches in recent years. In 2020, Capcom suffered a devastating data breach that revealed a number of unannounced games, including Dragon’s Dogma 2 and Street Fighter 6. International law enforcement finally apprehended the ransomware group responsible in October.
Last year, dozens of video files related to GTA 6 were stolen and leaked online. One of the accused hackers, Arion Kurtaj, of the Lapsus$ group, was convicted of 12 different offenses following a seven-week trial in August.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.