The source codes of games like Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3 and Gwent are apparently up for sale in exploit forums. As the vx-underground portal, which specializes in data leaks, reports, the entry bid is one million US dollars and the buy-it-now price is seven million.
For vx-underground the authenticity is beyond question, what screenshots published on Twitter are supposed to prove. The hackers who offer the source code in an exploit forum are supposed to communicate that the auction will only take place there – should the auctions appear elsewhere, it would be a fake.
The auction follows a cyber attack on CD Projekt Red. Criminals hijacked the developer studio’s servers – and partially encrypted it. In doing so, they stole the source texts of individual games from the Polish studio. In a ransom note, the criminals threatened to publish the source texts if they were not contacted within 48 hours.
In addition to the game files, the hackers apparently also got hold of individual documents that they want to send to their contacts in the game press.
In a statement, CD Projekt Red said that it would not accept the criminals’ demands. Instead, they want to work up the case meticulously with the authorities. The cyberpunk developers were able to restore the partially encrypted data with backups made.