The Insomniac Games hacking affair is sending echoes throughout the gaming community, especially after Wolverine‘s development build was released into the wild. Insomniac isn’t giving up, however, as it’s seemingly started sending DMCA claims to players attempting to download its game’s leaked (and playable) build.
Insomniac Games is allegedly asking internet service providers (ISPs) to send out DMCA claim warnings to users who are trying to gain access to the leaked Wolverine build, PC_Focus, a gaming-oriented account on Twitter account wrote on Dec. 21. This post included a screenshot allegedly coming from Xfinity, the Comcast owned company acting on behalf of Insomniac, telling a user to promptly delete any files related to the leaked Wolverine build.
In the screenshot, it is said that the copyright owner has “identified the IP address associated with [their] Xfinity internet account at the time as the source of the infringing works.” This would imply that Insomniac Games have a way of detecting where the leaked files are being used, either through a supposed DRM or other tracking system embedded in the game files. The filename is the library associated with the Wolverine build, and the infringement is dated to Dec. 20, meaning that Insomniac may have been doing this for two days already at the time of writing. Again, it’s important to note that the developer has not shared any update to suggest they are working with internet service providers to take action against the leak.
In case you missed it, Insomniac Games was the victim of a brutal ransomware attack that caused over 1.3 million internal files and private company documents to leak to the public. Nearly 1.8 terabytes of data containing sensitive information, including finance, a release schedule, and private details of company employees, were leaked. Perhaps the most striking part of the leak was everything related to Wolverine, including numerous gameplay footage, internal builds, tests, and the whole game—or at least what was developed up to the leaking point.
Having become available on the dark net and off-the-record websites, the build has been circulating, and some modders have already begun working on their own changes to the game. Parts of the leaked data were sold to undisclosed buyers, GameIndustry reported at the time, and the Wolverine build may have been part of that sale, though that remains unconfirmed.
Insomniac has a long road ahead in terms of recuperating their losses, and I hope they do so and return to creating breathtaking titles they’ve become so recognizable for in the past.
