Breach Message Board

Kickstarter just sent out an email saying hackers have accessed their users' data. While credit card data was not involved in the breach, Kickstarter is advising that users change their passwords here, and in any account where the same password is used.Read more...

Amnesia Fortnight is two weeks every year during which Double Fine allow their entire staff to pitch and make game prototypes, with the goal of eventually expanding a few of those games, and maybe turning some into a full retail release. It’s the process through which Costume Quest and Stacking were born; it was opened to public voting and documenting last year, birthing Spacebase; and it’s now back for another while around.

As per last year, that means you can buy your way into the process via a pay-what-you-want Humble page. That let’s you vote on which of the 31 prototypes get developed (including 4 by Adventure Time creator Pendleton Ward), and perhaps most excitingly lets you watch the 2 Player documentaries of the entire process.

I’ve embedded Double Fine’s introductory video a few of the best pitch videos and trailers for a couple of games below. … [visit site to read more]

ArmA series developer Bohemia Interactive reports that its website was hacked, resulting in unauthorized access to a database containing user login details. Bohemia has reset all of its users' passwords as a precautionary measure.

Bohemia assures that credit card information was not stored on its servers, and was not accessed as a result of the breach. In addition, all stored passwords were encrypted, making it "very unlikely that anything nefarious can be done with this information."

Affected users can request a new password here.

Blizzard Entertainment is facing a class action lawsuit over the sale of its Battle.net authenticators, which are used to provide security for player account information for games such as World of Warcraft and Diablo 3. The suit, filed by the law firm Carney Williams Bates Pulliam & Bowman, PLLC in the Central District of California, alleged that the authenticators were needed by players "in order to have even minimal protection for their sensitive personal, private, and financial data." The lawsuit referred to an August security breach in which no financial user data was reported to be stolen.

The class action suit posited that Blizzard practiced "deceptive upselling," in that it allegedly failed "to disclose to consumers that additional products must be acquired after buying the games in order to ensure the security of information stored in online accounts that are requisites for playing."

A Blizzard representative told Forbes that "this suit is without merit and filled with patently false information, and we will vigorously defend ourselves through the appropriate legal channels." The representative said the use of the authenticator tool was optional for players, and offered players "an added level of security against account-theft attempts that stem from sources such as phishing attacks, viruses packaged with seemingly harmless file downloads, and websites embedded with malicious code."

Blizzard's statement continued, "the suit's claim that we didn't properly notify players regarding the August 2012 security breach is not true. Not only did Blizzard act quickly to provide information to the public about the situation, we explained the actions we were taking and let players know how the incident affected them, including the fact that no names, credit card numbers, or other sensitive financial information was disclosed."

Adding to the list of game-related companies it has attacked, LulzSec yesterday claimed to have stolen and leaked the login and password information for approximately 62,000 "internet accounts," reports the CBC. The stolen info is said to comprise logins/passwords from Facebook, Twitter, "dating sites," PayPal and, notoriously, Xbox Live. It is also claimed that the majority of accounts are from the United states, though several other countries are named in the report.

The account database info is still currently available through the LulzSec website (though we'd suggest not visiting) -- various folks on Twitter responding to the group claim to have done a variety of things with the information, from having a large pack of condoms delivered to an elderly woman, to one person saying they bilked a PayPal account for £250 ($404).

Earlier this week, the group attacked and successfully took down a handful of game industry websites, including EVE Online, Minecraft and The Escapist. All three sites quickly recovered and have been online since. Microsoft has yet to respond to request for comment on yesterday evening's alleged breach.

Update: Microsoft has released a statement, which states that Xbox Live was not compromised to the best of Microsoft's knowledge, and the logins/passwords were released at random, with people encouraged to try said information on services like Xbox Live (among others). "This group appears to have posted a list of thousands of potential email addresses and passwords, and encouraged users to try them across various online sites like Xbox Live in the event one of the users happens to use the same password and email address combination. At this time we do not have any evidence Xbox Live has been compromised. However we take the security of our service seriously and work on an ongoing basis to improve it against evolving threats."

Adding to the list of game-related companies it has attacked, LulzSec yesterday claimed to have stolen and leaked the login and password information for approximately 62,000 "internet accounts," reports the CBC. The stolen info is said to comprise logins/passwords from Facebook, Twitter, "dating sites," PayPal and, notoriously, Xbox Live. It is also claimed that the majority of accounts are from the United states, though several other countries are named in the report.

The account database info is still currently available through the LulzSec website (though we'd suggest not visiting) -- various folks on Twitter responding to the group claim to have done a variety of things with the information, from having a large pack of condoms delivered to an elderly woman, to one person saying they bilked a PayPal account for £250 ($404).

Earlier this week, the group attacked and successfully took down a handful of game industry websites, including EVE Online, Minecraft and The Escapist. All three sites quickly recovered and have been online since. Microsoft has yet to respond to request for comment on yesterday evening's alleged breach.

#itonlydoesoffline The New York Attorney General subpoenaed Sony over the data breach of its Playstation and Sony Online Entertainment networks, Bloomberg reports. More »

#hackerslament The massive breach of Sony's PSN service has resulted in the possible theft of an unprecedented amount of sensitive information. The ramifications have been felt not only by consumers, but banks, credit card issuers, and other tributary industries. But here are some victims you probably haven't considered: other hackers. More »

"I was disappointed that Sony did not proactively notify my office...It seems to me that it's time to begin imposing fines - significant, attention-getting fines - on companies when poor privacy and security practices lead to breaches.'' [The Vancouver Sun] More »

Following in the footsteps of its PC counterpart, the XBLA version of Breach is now patched. The update fixes "all known crashes," addresses lag issues and squashes a number of bugs, according to developer Atomic Games. Check out the full list of fixes after the break.

Additionally, the time limit for online play in the free trial version of the game has been extended to one hour. As an added bonus, those who've already exhausted their free trials will receive the new, full hour. The full title update is available now and will be automatically applied upon starting Breach.

New Breach update for Xbox Live Arcade shoots lag in the head.

Patch also adds new dedicated server features.

Atomic Games announced a patch for the PC version of its downloadable shooter, Breach, designed to ameliorate lag issues. Along with "many" fixes for the lag problems, the patch corrects a number of bugs, including errors found in Sole Survivor and Retrieval games. Find the full patch notes after the break to find out if your favorite bug has been addressed.

The new patch allows players to run Dedicated Server matches without having the Steam client running (Steam wouldn't be necessary in LAN multiplayer, to name one use), and also adds user-configurable ports for the dedicated server function.

Atomic Games' downloadable first-person shooter hits Xbox Live Arcade!

If there's one genre that's stuffed to the gills on both consoles and PC, it's shooters. Even the downloadable space is full of competition these days, with titles like Battlefield 1943, Monday Night Combat and Blacklight: Tango Down all fighting to pull players away from the yearly deluge of big-budget retail titles. As such, it's gravely important that any new FPS -- especially a lower profile downloadable title -- has something that separates it from the crowd. Breach has some well-executed ideas -- and some cool real-world gadgets -- but I'm not sure what that hook is supposed to be.

Breach is available online and in retail stores for an incredibly low price.

Promising the world's most destructible battlefield in a first-person shooter.

This trailer from Atomic Games' Breach is like the Consumer Electronics Show of killing guys -- all the hottest gadgets are on display, from IR sights that let you take out snipers to motion sensor activators. The downloadable game is out January 26, but you can see the gear in action right now.

Spy gadgets, equipment and weapons that are really used.

Atomic drops a truth bomb.

Breach -- the game one guy breached the law to get an early copy of -- has finally been dated for release on Wednesday, January 26 by developer Atomic Games, which will self-publish the title. The date applies to the "worldwide" availability of both the XBLA and PC versions of the multiplayer shooter, breaching initial plans to stagger the releases starting this past summer.

The PC version -- available in boxed-copy format or as a download -- will retail for $20, while the XBLA game has been set at $15 (1200 points). The premium PC edition will indeed be backed by a little more oomph, featuring Nvidia PhysX tech (i.e., "larger explosions"), a "higher performance" Hardcore Mode ("to play the way operatives train") and dedicated servers.

Breach the break for some new gameplay footage.

The weapons real operatives use today.

The saga of Six Days in Fallujah hasn't completely ended yet -- Atomic Games' Peter Tamte admits that the game isn't actually finished (no duh), but tells VG247 that "what we need is the funding to complete it." While showing off the company's new downloadable shooter, Breach, to journalists in London, Tamte said that publishers just aren't willing to commit to telling stories like the ones told in Six Days, and that's resulting in falling industry sales. "It should be clear to them," Tamte says, "that the path we are on right now is taking us downhill. And yet when I have conversations with publishers, I still get the message back - 'No, we pretty much want to keep doing what we're doing.'"

Atomic is trying to counteract that with Breach, a full-scale military shooter that's being sold for a DLC price, designed "to disrupt the way games are priced and to create an environment where original content can flourish." Breach isn't Six Days remade -- rather, it's a re-use of the engine that Atomic developed, along with some tries at strong innovation in terms of destructible environments and cover. And it sounds like Tamte hopes that Breach will make finishing and publishing Six Days possible again. Sounds good, but of course let's get one game out there before we start promising two -- Breach is scheduled for release sometime next year.

Justin May, the man accused of attempting to steal Atomic Games' unreleased title Breach during PAX East, was placed on pre-trial probation in Boston Municipal Court yesterday. Suffolk County District Attorney Press Secretary Jake Wark informed Joystiq that the conditions of the probation are that May "stay in school, not reoffend, stay off of Xbox Live web sites, and forfeit his computer, which was seized at the time of his arrest." If May follows the conditions, his case will be dismissed after 18 months. If not, he'll be "put back on track for trial."

May was arrested last March when he attempted to steal Breach from the PAX East show floor. He then skipped bail and eventually agreed to show up for court in May, with the latest hearing set for yesterday. We've contacted Atomic Games for comment on the outcome.

Unsurprisingly, there are lots of walls being blown up in this game.

Play the way the professionals train.

#delayofgame While Atomic Games has missed the chance to get "Destruction 3.0" shooter Breach onto Xbox Live this summer, the new January 2011 release window gives the developer time to blur the line between military simulation and video game even further. More »

Well, it seems alleged Breach code thief Justin May might have been getting a sneakier peek than even he knew. Atomic has just announced that its XBLA shooter won't arrive this summer as previously announced, but rather in January of 2011. Though Atomic says the game is finished now, the company missed Breach's originally slated June date and the XBLA schedule was apparently just too full to slip it in any sooner than January.

In the interim, the developer will be adding a "Hardcore" mode, which is apparently lifted from more realistic versions of the game that outside organizations commissioned for training purposes.

Well, you're welcome, Jack Thompson.

Justin May, the 20-year-old man accused of trying to steal Atomic Games' Breach off the PAX East show floor, finally showed up in court today -- after previously skipping bail and eventually agreeing to show up for arraignment. Assistant District Attorney Kate Clayman briefly recited the facts of the case in Boston Municipal Court this morning and the judge released May on his own recognizance. No monetary bail was set.

Suffolk Country District Attorney Press Secretary Jake Wark told Joystiq that May will return to court with his defense attorney on June 27 to file a motion to dismiss the case.

According to Atomic Games' complaint field with Boston police, the company placed the value of Breach "in excess of $6 million." We're currently following up with Atomic Games and the District Attorney's office to find out how events are expected to proceed from here.

Justin May, wanted after skipping bail on charges that he tried to swipe early code of a video game at the Penny Arcade Expo, plans to appear in Boston courts in May, the Suffolk County District Attorney tells Kotaku. More »