Reports say that the hackers who breached the video game development company behind the Marvel’s Spider-Man game have leaked a large amount of data revealing the studio’s plans for the next decade, including anticipated projects such as Wolverine and X-Men games. This is the latest major leak in the gaming industry.
Hacker Leaks Reveal Wolverine and Spider-Man Projects
According to reports, 1.67 terabytes of internal data, which contains over 1.3 million stolen files from the game developer Insomniac, was leaked. Insomniac is a studio owned by Sony, which has delivered successful exclusive titles for the PlayStation, such as Spider-Man and its recent sequel, Spider-Man 2.
The hackers demanded Sony pay an estimated amount of around $2 million for the data after claiming responsibility for the attack last week and posting the data online within minutes of the seven-day deadline, according to Cyber Daily.
The leaks include personal employee data, internal emails, and details about the long-awaited Wolverine game from Insomniac, which is scheduled for release in 2025 (the leaks indicate it may be released in 2026), as well as videos, story details, and game design all circulating on social media.
Studio Plans for the Next Decade
In addition to Wolverine details, the hack seems to reveal the studio’s plans for the next decade, including development budgets and a release schedule up to the end of 2033, many of which have not yet been announced.
The upcoming releases are set to include a game based on the character Venom from Spider-Man 2 in 2025, a third installment in the Spider-Man series in 2028, a new Ratchet and Clank title in 2029, an X-Men release in 2030, and a new, untitled intellectual property in 2031/32.
Sony did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes and previously stated that it is aware of the security breach and is investigating the matter.
The Entertainment Industry Suffers from Data Leaks
Due to its large user base, collection of personal data, and financial power, the gaming industry is an attractive target for cybercriminals. The Insomniac leaks are the latest in a series of major data breaches from leading game studios. This follows the theft and leak of footage from the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA6) online last year in what is considered one of the largest breaches in the industry’s history. Rockstar Studios finally released a trailer for the game earlier this month. In 2020, Naughty Dog was hacked prior to the release of its upcoming game The Last of Us 2. Other studios, including CD Projekt behind Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3, and Riot Games, behind League of Legends and Valorant, have also been hacked in recent years.
The Ransomware Group and Attack Technique
The ransomware group behind the attack, Rhysida, is the same group that claimed to have breached the British Library at the end of November. Its techniques are common among criminals targeting organizations and businesses, where computers are infected with malware and files are locked until a ransom is paid. Typically, the ransom is requested in cryptocurrency due to the difficulty of tracing it.
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