As a stacked 2023 comes to a close and we look back on what a stellar year it has been for gamers, it’s been far from that for developers in more ways than one. As The Game Awards suffered scrutiny for failing to acknowledge the countless layoffs we’ve seen in 2023, a couple of major devs have also fallen victim to hackers and data leaks to close out the year. If this shows anything from the makers of some of the most technologically advanced projects in the gaming industry, it’s that they don’t know how to cover their own backsides.
December 19, 2023, saw the release of nearly 1.7 terabytes of sensitive information leaked straight from the locked filing cabinet of Spider-Man 2 developers, Insomniac Games. Among the leaked info was a string of new release plans leading right up to 2035, multiplayer game modes in the works for major titles, and a plethora of financial documents detailing employee details and company profits, projections, and budgets. The biggest project of theirs that was hit was their highly-anticipated title Marvel’s Wolverine, a game that we now know cast lists, concept arts, character inclusions, and story plots for. They’re not the only ones that have leaked info recently, with Rockstar’s highly-anticipated trailer for GTA 6 leaked before its scheduled release, causing the developer to drop the full trailer ahead of its intended time.
For gamers, leaks are generally just gifts we weren’t expected to be handed but will accept greedily. For those who have been immersed in the world of Spider-Man over the years, the Insomniac leak is a welcome sight, as the devs behind the 2023 Game of the Year nominee clearly have plenty in the pipeline for fans to be absolutely buzzing about. While it’s good news for gamers and perhaps something Insomniac ultimately decided would benefit more than hinder them, it’s still not a good look for a company with so much money and so much tech behind it. Nonetheless, we gamers are thrilled to hear about all the juicy content coming our way in the next few years.
They say bad news sells papers, so it’s not necessarily a bad thing for a leak to drop info if it causes a stir in the community and puts the spotlight on a company. Especially at this time of year, a leak of this magnitude feels like Christmas has come early. With a Spider-Man 2 multiplayer in the works for 2024 and Venom getting his very own IP in 2025, there’s already quite a bit to be excited about in the near future. Even in the case of Rockstar’s leak, gamers reaped the benefits of getting the long-awaited GTA 6 trailer ahead of time purely for the sake of putting their minds at ease about the game’s quality and, of course, to keep Rockstar in the gaming community’s good graces. But it shouldn’t be lost on us while we are scrambling to grab Insomniac’s candy from the accidentally-busted pinata, there are still plenty of losers in these scenarios.
Aside from the leaked information itself, perhaps the most alarming part of this whole Insomniac ordeal is what the hacking group Rhysida had to say. In a comment to CyberDaily, the group mentioned that they knew exactly who they were hacking, stating “We knew that developers making games like this would be an easy target.”. This is a sobering commentary for Insomniac and other major developers out there that they have a reputation for not putting their walls up high enough. In a time when you can pop a VR headset on and be transported to another world or lose yourself in self-sustaining virtual communities and worlds, there is clearly an image problem when it comes to security in the video game industry.
Over at Rockstar, we saw a lot of disappointed and angry employees who worked on GTA 6 express their disdain for having “their moment” ruined, having been deprived of the opportunity to gather with their friends, family, and colleagues to watch the unveiling of the years of hard work together. While it’s easy to look at the likes of Insomniac or Rockstar as a company and consider that this isn’t so bad, it truly sucks for the extensive list of people whose names are on the credits we hurriedly skip over at the end of a game.
So why on earth are these leaks even happening? There’s been a lot of speculation about Rockstar and whether an employee’s kid released the info, or that it may have been a hacker just like Insomniac’s case. Whatever the cause, it’s not good enough that these things are happening in the first place. Not enough is being done to respect the people who are working around the clock, who are usually under NDAs themselves, and protect the company's very expensive investments. The worst part that is often overlooked is that there is sensitive information being posted about employees themselves, including passport scans. That alone should be enough cause to put more time, money, and resources into the protection of data.
The dust will inevitably settle on this leak and the buzz will eventually simmer down until the release of the respective leaked titles, but the information has still been exposed and that in itself should have alarm bells ringing at Insomniac. For the integrity of their studio and the protection of the hard-working individuals who bring their projects to life, some significant improvements have to be made.