CollinsEA: According to Motherboard, hackers gained access to the source code for FIFA 21, the Frostbite engine (which powers not only EA’s soccer/football franchise, but also Battlefield), and other game development tools. According to reports, the hackers are promoting the data for sale on hacking sites, but will only entertain offers from well-known members of the hacking community.
When companies lose control of source code, it’s a big deal, and the gaming industry has seen some major thefts recently: in February, hackers stole CD Projekt Red’s source code for Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3, and in July of 2020, Nintendo saw the source code for many SNES and Nintendo 64 games, including Super Mario Kart and an unreleased Zelda game, released.
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While it’s unlikely that other reputable developers would use EA’s code on purpose, hackers having access to a game’s or engine’s inner workings could aid them in creating cheats or cracks — it could also reveal secret projects and game ideas, as well as developer comments that companies would rather not be revealed. Breach of security is also bad for a company’s reputation.
The hackers claim to have Microsoft Xbox and Sony SDKs and API keys for sale, in addition to EA’s own proprietary code and tools. According to a snapshot received by BleepingComputer, hackers have taken a total of 780GB of data:
Hackers obtained “a limited quantity of game source code and related tools,” according to an EA spokeswoman, who also stated that the hackers did not have access to player data. They also stated that, as a result of the incident, the company has upgraded its security and does not expect any negative effects on its games or business.
EA made it clear to us that this was not a ransomware attack, unlike the recent run of cybersecurity breaches we’ve witnessed, and that it’s collaborating with law enforcement to investigate the situation.
Collins