Insomniac Games Breaks Silence on 'Extremely Distressing' Bitcoin Ransom Hack

Over a week after hackers attacked Sony’s PlayStation studio Insomniac Games, obtaining and then releasing a vast trove of confidential and sensitive information after demanding millions of dollars in Bitcoin, Insomniac issued a public statement on the “extremely distressing” ransom attack Friday.

“We’re both saddened and angered about the recent criminal cyberattack on our studio and the emotional toll it’s taken on our dev team,” Insomniac Games shared on Twitter (aka X).

“We are working quickly to determine what data was impacted. This experience has been extremely distressing for us,” the studio added. 

Insomniac confirmed that sensitive current and former employee data, as well as contractor data, was revealed as part of the cyberattack, along with details about its upcoming Wolverine game based on the Marvel superhero. 

Insomniac said it won’t be making announcements related to its Wolverine game just because of the attack’s resulting leaks.

“Like Logan… Insomniac is resilient,” the studio said, referring to the game’s clawed superhero protagonist. “Marvel’s Wolverine continues as planned. The game is in early production and will no doubt greatly evolve throughout development, as do all our plans.” 

Hackers Leak Insomniac's 'X-Men' Game After Bitcoin Ransom Demand

One week ago, cyberattackers announced that they’d hacked into Sony game studio Insomniac Games and would leak over a terabyte of confidential data—unless a hefty ransom of 50 Bitcoin ($2 million at the time) was paid within seven days.  The files went up on auction immediately last week, but only 2% of the leaked trove appears to have been sold, according to a report from CyberDaily. The remaining 98% of Insomniac data has been published, revealing files from the studio’s Spider-Man 2 game, a t...

Last week, Sony told Eurogamer that it was aware of the attack but did not believe any of its other divisions were impacted.

A hacker group known as Rhysida has claimed responsibility for the attack, and demanded about $2 million worth of Bitcoin as a ransom payment within seven days before releasing the stolen data online.

Sony and Insomniac did not appear to have paid the ransom, as the data was subsequently leaked. An estimated 2% of the Insomniac data was reportedly sold to unknown buyers while the remaining 98% was released to the public, per a CyberDaily report. The outlet was also reportedly in contact with Rhysida, who said their only motivation was money.

Edited by Andrew Hayward