World’s Costliest Video Game Cyberpunk 2077 Developers Held To Ransom In Cyber Attack, Source Code Theft

The costliest video game in the history of Esports is now hit by hackers. The recently launched game – Cyberpunk 2077 is facing another crisis as hackers have accessed internal network and collected data of the developer of the game. The company also revealed that the hackers are asking for ransom.

In an update on Twitter, the polish company CD Projekt said it’s been hacked by attackers who’ve been able to access its internal network, encrypt some devices, and collect “certain data”.

Attackers have collected data belonging to the CD Projekt capital group and left a ransom note, asking the developer to meet their requirements in 48 hours. CD Projekt has revealed that the source code for some of its games was stolen, along with other important data. CD Projekt said that it has secured its IT infrastructure, and has begun restoring its data from intact backups.

The company added that it has informed the relevant authorities as well as IT forensic specialists.

The company shared the ransom note left by the hackers, who claim to have accessed the source code for Cyberpunk 2077, Witcher 3, Gwent, and an “unreleased version of Witcher 3.”

The hackers have threatened to release the source code alongside internal legal, HR, and financial documents if their demands are not met.

Although the data stolen for ransom by the attackers was important, CD Projekt has made it clear that it will not be giving in to the demands of the attackers. The developer has revealed that although some devices in its network were encrypted by the attacker, backups remained intact. CD Projekt has already begun restoring lost data via these backups.

“We will not give in to the demands nor negotiate with the actor, being aware that this may eventually lead to the release of compromised data,” said CD Projekt in a statement.  “We are taking necessary steps to mitigate the consequences of such a release, in particular by approaching any parties that may be affected due to the breach,” it added.

Since its launch, players have observed numerous bugs and performance issues with Cyberpunk 2077, especially on the ‘Xbox One’ and PlayStation 4.

Earlier, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) announced that it is removing Cyberpunk 2077 game from the PlayStation Play Store to ensure a high level of customer satisfaction.

CD Projekt last month started rolling out its version 1.1 update for the Cyberpunk 2077 game as promised. The update was available for download across all platforms, including PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Stadia.

According to the company, the update brings some stability improvements, open world and quest fixes, user interface (UI) changes, visual fixes, and some more improvements to all platforms including PC, console and Stadia.

With the new update, performance on the PS4 Pro and PS5 has been optimised, and there are crash fixes for the PS4.

-With inputs from IANS