Bandai Namco Admits July Hack May Have Exposed Customer Information
Back in July, Bandai Namco revealed that a hack of the company's servers had taken place. At the time, the Elden Ring publisher offered little information about what had been taken, though it did state that customer information "was included in the servers and PCs." Today, Bandai Namco offered a follow-up to its previous statement, stating that "external leakage of information" as a result of the hack "cannot be denied." The company went on to state that it has not confirmed of any such instances, but did provide an email address where users could report any potential "information leakage."
"We deeply apologize to all those involved for the considerable concern and inconvenience this may cause. Any future matters and such like requiring disclosure will be announced without delay," the statement reads.
At this point, those that have purchased games or content directly from Bandai Namco will likely have some idea whether or not their information was leaked as part of the hack. It also seems that the majority of customers that may have had their information stolen would have been "in the Asian region (excluding Japan)," so it appears customers in North America and Europe might not have cause for concern. Still, Bandai Namco has pledged to "strengthen its information security structure and work to prevent recurrence." That might prove little comfort for those that have already had their information stolen or shared online, but hopefully it will help to prevent another incident from happening in the future.
Unfortunately, these types of hacks have become all too common in the video game industry, and throughout the internet as a whole. Bandai Namco is one of the biggest and oldest game publishers, which likely made them a bigger target for ransomware groups. It remains to be seen just how seriously Bandai Namco will take this data leak, and the scale of the company's response in regards to its future security.
Does this incident make you less likely to make purchases directly from Bandai Namco? Are you concerned about your information being stolen in these types of hacks? Let us know in the comments or share directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
[H/T: Eurogamer]