Recently, the source code for Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 was sold on the dark web. And one lucky buyer left with the game and engine code for CD Projekt Red’s biggest titles.
In retrospect, this development looks very similar to a plot development in Cyberpunk 2077. Enterprising hackers managed to steal the code from under the developers’ noses. Subsequently, they leaked the source code of the strategic card game Witcher Gwent.
The main reason they released the Gwent code is to prove to the world that they had the goods. The next step was to hold an auction on a popular dark web forum. And the hackers weren’t playing the game: bids for their stolen code started at a hefty million dollars.
While that was the initial offer, there was also an option for someone to purchase the code outright for seven million dollars. A buyer ended up winning the auction, but it wasn’t immediately clear how much he had paid.
Why not? According to research by KELA, the reason the final sum is unknown is that the hackers received an offer from outside the dark web forum. Interestingly, the buyer promised the hackers that the source code would not be released or resold, but only time will tell if they will keep their word.
Allegedly, the buyer paid at least one million dollars. What did they get for all that money? The core products included source code for Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3. But it also included code for Thronebreaker, code for a raytraced version of Witcher 3, and even the studio’s proprietary RedEngine, as well as assorted sensitive business documents.
Strictly speaking, the developer had a chance to prevent this from happening. The hackers initially tried to redeem CD Projekt Red, but the developer decided not to pay the ransom and decided to warn their partners, authorities and the gaming community in general about what happened.
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