Bandai Namco Entertainment has seen tremendous success this year thanks to the incredible sales of FromSoftware’s hit action RPG, Elden Ring. However, the Japanese publisher has now reportedly been the target of a ransomware attack from a group called ALPHV.
The news comes from vx-underground, which describes itself as “The largest collection of malware source code, samples, and papers on the internet.” A Tweet from vx-underground said, “ALPHV ransomware group (alternatively referred to as BlackCat ransomware group) claims to have ransomed Bandai Namco.”
For those who may not know, ransomware is classed as a type of malicious software that is used to target individuals or companies and block their access to their own data. The cybercriminals then typically threaten to release that data to the public unless a ransom demand is met.
Bandai Namco has yet to make a statement regarding this cyber-attack, but video game outlets like VGC have reached out to the publisher for comments.
Bandai Namco is, unfortunately, not the only game publisher to come under attack from ransomware in recent memory.
CD Projekt Red, the studio behind Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, was also a victim of a ransomware attack last year. This was supposedly done by a group called HelloKitty. The company did not give in to the demands of this group, and the result was that its data was leaked online. CD Projekt Red did not confirm what was leaked exactly, but we know that some of the information included personal employee data.
Electronic Arts was also hit by a cyberattack last year. This attack leaked data from the company online, such as several assets and source codes for games. EA itself later confirmed that some of the leaked data included the source code for FIFA 21 and EA’s own Frostbite game engine.
