Based in Burbank, California, Insomniac Games, Inc. is an American video game developer that is an affiliate of PlayStation Studios.
The studio is most known for creating the Resistance franchise, Sunset Overdrive (2014), the Marvel Spider-Man series alongside Marvel Games, and various early PlayStation mascots, including Spyro the Dragon, Ratchet, and Clank. After being purchased by Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2019, the studio was integrated into SIE Worldwide Studios, which is currently referred to as PlayStation Studios.
Insomniac Studios’ upcoming game is called Wolverine. Wolverine by Marvel is presently being developed for the PlayStation 5. It is being developed in association with Marvel Games and PlayStation.
Breach at Insomniac Studios
According to the Rhysida ransomware organization, Insomniac was compromised, allowing them to access confidential employee data and details about the next Wolverine game.
Sony has confirmed that it is looking into the reports that surfaced today regarding a security compromise at Insomniac. The statement went on to say that it doesn’t think any other Sony Interactive Entertainment or Sony divisions were impacted.
“We are aware of reports that Insomniac Games has been the victim of a cyber security attack. We are currently investigating this situation. We have no reason to believe that any other SIE or Sony divisions have been impacted”, Sony said as part of an official statement.
Cyberdaily claims that Rhysida provided sparse data to support its assertion. This includes character art, staff passport scans, and an allegedly annotated screenshot from Wolverine.
According to reports, Rhysida is currently offering a seven-day deadline for 50 BTC, or roughly $2 million, for the data. It is implied that in the event that payment is not received by the hackers before the end of the period they have set for themselves, they will make public the stolen data.
Increase in cyberattacks at gaming companies
With several breaches in the video game sector in recent years, cyberattacks are becoming a bigger worry for the big gaming companies.
According to another report, a ransomware gang broke into Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 development company Insomniac and sold stolen data.
In one instance, a disastrous data breach happened to Capcom in 2020. This exposed several hidden titles, such as Street Fighter 6 and Dragon’s Dogma 2. Finally, the ransomware group was taken down in October by international law enforcement.
A lot of Grand Theft Auto 6 footage was obtained in 2022 and made public online. It was among the most significant hacks in the video game industry. After a seven-week trial in August, one of the accused hackers, Arion Kurtaj of the Lapsus$ group, was found guilty. He was found guilty of twelve criminal offenses.
Furthermore, the recent Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer was hacked and posted online just a day before Rockstar Games scheduled the official trailer launch.