Canadian developer Red Barrels, best known for the Outlast franchise, has fallen victim to a serious cyber attack. In an official statement, the studio confirms that its systems have been affected by some sort of "cybersecurity event". The developer said that an unknown hacker group called Nitrogen has accessed its internal systems.
According to a report (via MP1st), the stolen files contain source code of Outlast 1 and 2, unreleased game builds, and private HR and financial records including credit cards. Also, more than 1.8 TB of sensitive company data was reportedly stolen. Nitrogen is demanding now, in return, an undisclosed ransom from Red Barrels, on the condition of threatening to leak all of the compromised data online.
A group of leading external cybersecurity experts has been mandated to conduct an in-depth investigation into the incident. We also notified stakeholders potentially affected by the event and the relevant authorities. As a precautionary measure our employees have been offered appropriate support.
This attack has taken a significant toll on operations at Red Barrels, as well as future projects. In its public statement, the studio confirmed that large sections of its announced roadmap have been delayed significantly while security experts rebuild damaged systems.
Of most concern, though, is the fact that the hacker group has gotten their hands on proprietary code for Outlast—the games now risk piracy and cloned work.
The hit on our production timeline has been significant. We will do our best to follow our roadmap but unfortunately, some things will have to be delayed. We’ll share a more detailed update on that as soon as we can.
Despite this, the studio stressed that no player info was accessed. However, players should be prepared for possible delays in content and features for future installments of the series, including The Outlast Trials. Red Barrels also promised a review of practices for stronger safeguards henceforth.