Video game publishing giant Electronic Arts is the latest company that has fallen prey to a group of hackers. Like many other situations of this type that have involved other gaming companies, the material that was stolen as a result of the hacking is in relation to the source code for one of EA’s most popular franchises and an accompanying game engine. Fortunately, the situation is one that is said to not be putting any potential EA customers at risk.
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Reported first by Vice, news of this hacking attempt was discovered as the hackers in question asserted on a handful of forum posts that it had stolen information from the publisher. The specific content that was stolen is in relation to FIFA 21, which is the latest installment in EA’s soccer simulation franchise. The hackers claimed to have stolen the game’s source code, in addition to a code that related to the matchmaking tools for the title’s server. In addition, the source code for the Frostbite engine, which is one of the main game engines that EA developers work within, was also said to have been stolen. A handful of others strings of code and assorted data were also included in the theft.
A representative from EA recently confirmed the leak as well, stating that the company did have a recent breach. “We are investigating a recent incident of intrusion into our network where a limited amount of game source code and related tools were stolen,” the representative in question stated. “No player data was accessed, and we have no reason to believe there is any risk to player privacy. Following the incident, we’ve already made security improvements and do not expect an impact on our games or our business. We are actively working with law enforcement officials and other experts as part of this ongoing criminal investigation.”
It remains to be seen what comes from this situation in the future, but this is yet another cyberattack that has come about over the past few months to a prominent video game company. Perhaps the most notable instance of this prior to EA involved CD Projekt Red, which is the studio behind Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3. The Poland-based company reported back in February that it had been hacked but it was not giving in to the demands of the hackers that attempted to hold the company at ransom.
If any future developments involving this story with EA come about, we’ll be sure to keep you in the loop here on ComicBook.com.
