A hacking and ransomware group known as Egregor has allegedly obtained the source code to Watch Dogs: Legion, just two weeks away from its release date, along with a litany of files from developer and publisher Crytek.
Egregor has created a ransomware program of the same name that appears to be based on another popular program, Sekhmet. Ransomware, for those who don’t know, is a type of malware that steals or encrypts a victim's data and will not return or decrypt it unless the victim pays - or plays PUBG in one strange instance from 2018. The added threat is often that this stolen data will be leaked to the public if demands are not met, which is what Egregor is apparently threatening with Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs: Legion.
Egregor claims to have the source code to Watch Dogs: Legion. Source code is the code for a game in readable human language, which is compiled into machine code and can then be sold to consumers. Leaking the source code to a game would be akin to releasing the recipe for baking bread as opposed to releasing the whole loaf. Source code is typically confidential, and Egregor leaking Watch Dogs: Legions’ code could lead to other games copying Watch Dogs, or allow more in-depth hacking and modding than normally possible.
Sometimes source code is intentionally released, like when EA released the source code for two Command and Conquer games to aid fans and modders, but that is often long after the game in question has been released. Based on what Egregor has shown so far, it is hard to tell if the group does indeed have all of the source code to Watch Dogs: Legion. The ransomware group also claims to have data from Crytek, including resources used to develop titles like Arena of Fate and Warface.
A recent example of leaked source code is the massive amount of data dumped from Nintendo’s private servers this year, which included the source code for the Nintendo Wii. The era of the Wii has passed, so luckily for Nintendo that doesn’t pose as much of a threat as, say, the Switch’s source code would.
Source code leak or not, Watch Dogs: Legion releases at the end of this month with support for Ray-Tracing on next-gen consoles and select PC builds that have just been revealed by Ubisoft.
Watch Dogs: Legion releases on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One October 29, with PS5 and Xbox Series S/X versions coming later this year.
Source: ZDNet