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Game development is a minefield, with deadlines, budgets, and sensitive code ready to erupt at the first misstep. Everyone knows that things can go wrong, but few are prepared for how quickly disasters come when bad actors get involved. This point was driven home by the recent hack of Insomniac. When the Spider-Man 2 dev didn’t pay ransomware group Rhysida, the hackers responded by leaking 1.3 million stolen files. The dumping of 1.67 Terabytes of stolen data was a crushing blow to Insomniac and its employees, but it’s also a painful sting for fans and the industry as a whole.
From Spider-Man 2 to Catastrophe
Before the hack, Insomniac was having a better year than almost any other developer. Spider-Man 2 received multiple nominations at The Game Awards, and though it didn’t walk away with any trophies, it remains one of the year’s biggest winners. From rave reviews and stellar sales to an outpouring of enthusiasm from fans, it’s clear how much Spider-Man 2 meant to many of us. It’s painful to see the conversation shift from one of triumph to catastrophe so quickly. Insomniac is a top-performing studio with a stellar reputation: it will likely survive this disaster. What will happen to its staff is less clear.
In a year already marred by layoffs throughout the industry, hacks like this one directly threaten the livelihoods of many employees. It can be easy to lose sight of the fact that behind every title screen and developer logo there’s a team of real people who depend upon that company to put food on the table. Though it’s understandable that we, as members of the gaming community, want to know how these hacks will affect the hobby we love, that’s a secondary concern. The Insomniac hack didn’t just hurt investors and the C Suite. It hurt programmers, writers, artists, and animators.
Insomniac, Rockstar, and Rocksteady
The stolen data covered several sensitive areas which we will not discuss in detail. Amongst the leaks were footage of Insomniac’s upcoming Wolverine game, as well as the full voice cast, major plot spoilers, and even an early playable build, according to some reports. The hack affected more than just Wolverine, however. The hackers also stole and dumped Insomniac’s game slate up to 2030, including several unannounced projects. Nor is Insomniac the only company to suffer. The hackers also stole sensitive information regarding Insomniac’s publishing agreement with Marvel, as were private communications between the developer and Sony. Arguably, the most repugnant part of all is the theft of Insomniac employee data in HR documents.
Considering how thorough and terrible this hack was, it’s startling to realize it’s not even the only major data breach to hit the industry recently. In 2022, Rockstar suffered a major leak with information about GTA 6 coming to light long before it was supposed to. Rocksteady likewise suffered a recent, high-profile leak with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League as dataminers raked over the game after the NDA-covered alpha. Rhysida, the same group that hacked Insomniac, was also responsible for cyberattacks against the British Library, healthcare companies, and others. Unlike the GTA 6 leaker, Rhysida has yet to see consequences.
Hackers, Leaks, and the Gaming Industry
From financially motivated hackers like Rhysida to trolls who delight in spoiling others’ fun, threats to the gaming industry unfortunately aren’t going anywhere. Whether Spider-Man 2 was your Game of the Year or not, hacks and leaks of this kind jeopardize far more than 1’s and 0’s in a corporate account. There’s no telling what form the fallout from the Insomniac hack will take, be it game delays, layoffs, or something else. All we know for sure is that the devs, the fans, and the industry are hurting as a result.
As a human being, games journalist, and Insomniac fan, I don’t want to see anyone hurt in this way. Nor do want to spend the next year dodging spoilers because of someone else’s callousness and greed. We can’t always prevent hacks from occurring, but we can at least show some empathy afterward to those affected. These incidents injure everyone from the devs to the fans, though in very different ways. With luck, 2024 will see fewer such hacks and leaks, but there’s no guarantee. In the meantime, we should all take a moment to think of the people behind the pixels.
