Twitch Responds to Massive Hack, Confirms Breach

In case you somehow missed it, it would appear that Twitch has been the subject of a massive data breach. While Twitch itself had not commented on the hack, which included things like the full source code for Twitch.tv and its various clients as well as creator payouts, when it was first reported, Twitch has since confirmed that there was, in fact, a breach.

"We can confirm a breach has taken place," Twitch shared on social media as its official statement on the matter. "Our teams are working with urgency to understand the extent of this. We will update the community as soon as additional information is available. Thank you for bearing with us."

You can check it out for yourself below:

We can confirm a breach has taken place. Our teams are working with urgency to understand the extent of this. We will update the community as soon as additional information is available. Thank you for bearing with us.

— Twitch (@Twitch) October 6, 2021

It is worth noting that while Twitch has confirmed that a breach has happened, it has not exactly confirmed the extent of it. While reports had initially conflicted on whether the leaked information, shared to 4chan by an anonymous poster, included personal information, it seems fair to say that Twitch at least initially does not believe this to be the case. If it did, it would make far more sense for it to have suggested users change passwords and enable two-factor authentication. Then again, that could be reading too much into this first response given that Twitch has confirmed nothing beyond the breach's existence.

As we noted when covering the initial report of the hack, Twitch has been working on addressing serious harassment problems on the platform recently. It added new account verification options last month to better deter hate raids and the like. "No one should have to experience malicious and hateful attacks based on who they are or what they stand for," the company stated in August. "This is not the community we want on Twitch, and we want you to know we are working hard to make Twitch a safer place for creators."

What do you think about Twitch's response to the breach? Have you already changed your password, just in case? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk about all things gaming!