STALKER Studio Hacked and Blackmailed with Release of Stolen Materials

Hackers compromised systems belonging to GSC Game World, the studio behind the STALKER franchise and developers of the upcoming STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl.

It’s not unusual for hackers to target gaming companies, but the GSC Game World case is not a typical security incident. You would expect to see the victims' system compromised, infected with ransomware and locked, and the data theft levered in a blackmail attempt.

Instead, only the blackmail attempt is present, and the hackers are not even asking for money. GSC Game World is a Ukrainian company that has supported its country ever since Russia invaded. This simple fact, and because they chose to remove Russian language support from their game, made them a target.

"Recently, our employee's account for a collective work-with-images application was hacked," said the company on Twitter. “The responsibility for this was claimed by a community from a Russian social network claimed responsibility. They are threatening to use the data obtained for blackmail and intimidation."

While GSC doesn't game the hackers, a PCGamer report found the VK account (VK is Russia's' equivalent of Facebook) and the list of demands:

• Change your mind, rethink your attitude towards players from Belarus and Russia, apologize for the unworthy attitude towards ordinary players from these countries.
• We suggest unbanning the NF Star profile in your official Discord - you banned me for nothing, because of this I had to stop holding back.
• A separate issue is the return of ru-localization. Fans are waiting for it from your official company. It is not necessary to spoil the game for people because of politics.

From what the STALKER developers have said so far, they won't give in to the demands. They simply advised fans to ignore any images or other materials popping up online from unofficial sources.