Hackers have stolen 780 GB of valuable data from major game publisher Electronic Arts (EA). The attackers claimed to have downloaded the source codes for games such as FIFA 21 and for the proprietary Frostbite game engine used as the base for many other high-profile games. EA said no player data had been stolen in the breach.
EA is one of the largest games companies in the world. It has developed or published games such as Battlefield, Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, The Sims, and Titanfall to name a few.
“We are investigating a recent incident of intrusion into our network where a limited amount of game source code and related tools were stolen,” an EA spokesperson said in a statement. “No player data was accessed, and we have no reason to believe there is any risk to player privacy,” she added.
The company also said that it does not expect “an impact on our games or our business”. The “network intrusion” was not a ransomware attack and had happened recently, EA added.
The source code for the engine could hold significant value for an unscrupulous developer willing to copy it, or for those making cheat codes and hacks for games. It is is usually much easier to read and understand than the end version in a finished product.
In November last year, Capcom, the maker of Street Fighter and Resident Evil, suffered a ransomware attack which may have revealed the personal information of up to 350,000 people.
And in February, Cyberpunk developer CD Projekt Red suffered another ransomware attack which resulted in the source code for several games being stolen and auctioned off online. In that case, the hackers claimed to have sold the data for more than $7m.
Source: bbc.com
