Last month, in an ironic twist of events, Watch Dogs: Legion, which is all about being a hacker, has been hacked and had its source code stolen. Fast forward to today, and it seems that the people responsible for the attack have kept their word and leaked the stolen code online.
According to multiple reports, ransomware group called Egregor is responsible for leak, and previously claimed to have obtained access to the internal networks of companies Ubisoft and Crytek. Additionally, Egregor claimed to have stolen the source code for Watch Dogs: Legion, stating that unless some kind of random was paid, the group would post the source code online, which it essentially did. Seeing as how the source code weights around 560 GB, one might guess that the information is valuable and is worth a hefty chunk of data. Additionally, it seems that the data is already available to download from a number of private trackers.
To put things into perspective, the stolen source code basically allows people to create and enable mods for Watch Dogs: Legion and crack the game's anti-piracy measures, meaning that it may be easier for some users to bypass the game's anti-piracy protection at one point in the future. Although the ability to enable and use mods may be seen as a fun thing by making Watch Dogs: Legion more immersive, finding a way to break the anti-piracy measures sets a questionable precedent for the future. Nonetheless, one might argue that the stolen source code has some form of value to it.
Aside from Watch Dogs: Legion's source code being obtained, Egregor was able to previously obtain information from Crytek's game development division. Based on reports, the ransomware group was able to get its hands on information that contained resources about aspects like the development process of Arena of Fate and Warface, as well as the company's old Gface social gaming network, which again, might hold some value.
Currently, Ubisoft hasn't made any official public announcements regarding the leaked source code for Watch Dogs: Legion, which might suggest that Egregor's attack hasn't significantly impacted any consumer or business aspects of the company. As far as the act itself, it's not exactly clear how initial access was gained to the networks, but from a general perspective and with Egregor being a ransomware group, the stolen information is what matters, and it will be interesting to see what will happen to Watch Dogs: Legion going forward.
Watch Dogs: Legion is available on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, and later on for PS5 and Xbox Series X.
Source: IGN
