Life imitates art as Watch Dogs: Legion source code gets stolen

Ubisoft is infamous for leaking game announcements. But what happened with Watch Dogs: Legion is on a whole other level. Actual real-life hackers got in possession of Legion’s source code and are leaking it piecemeal at the moment (via ZDNet).

No, this is not a PR stunt by Ubisoft. No matter how on the nose comparisons between Watch Dogs: Legion’s setting and the source code theft are, this is a real crime. Unlike the in-game hacking group DedSec, the group behind the attack is a ransomware gang that goes by the name of Egregor.

Ransomware is a particularly nasty cybercrime where criminals threaten their victims by either deleting or leaking private files to the public. In the case of Watch Dogs: Legion, we are talking about its source code. That’s as important as it gets.

The source code entails basically all the details of how the game was made, how it works, and how it could be changed or attacked. Think about potential cheaters easily creating tools to cheat or even worse.

As a business, the leak is also awful since the entire competition can learn how Ubisoft creates games in the first place. There’s no question that Ubisoft will follow the Watch Dogs: Legion leak with legal action.

Seeing how serious the situation is, it’s somewhat reassuring that at the moment only some files became public. That’s the usual procedure in ransomware attacks though. Intimidate and demand money – hence ransom – and then ultimately leak more stuff.

For everyone who wants to live morally OK hacker fantasy, Watch Dogs: Legion is now available on PC, Stadia, PS4, and Xbox One. It’s a fairly standard Ubisoft open-world affair that failed to impress us sadly. You can read our full impressions in our review.