Dis Fockin' Guy

A fascinating video has appeared online that appears to show alpha footage of a sequel to the 2006 action-adventure adaptation Scarface: The World is Yours. The sequel, Scarface: Empire, was in development at studio Radical Entertainment but was canceled once the Canadian outfit was ??merged with Activisio?n in 2008.

The new footage, acquired by YouTube channel Mafia Game Videos and spotted by the eagle eyes of VGC, shows the apparently unkillable Tony Montana running amok in the streets of Las Vegas, taking on an army of hoodlums while accompanied by a gang of masked associates. The carnage is scored by two licensed music tracks: Elvis Presley's "Viva Las Vegas" and Motley Crue's "Dr. Feelgood," suggesting that Scarface: Empire would?? have had a licensed soundtrack befitting its late-'80s setting.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgHo2XgbDmo

Following the run 'n' gun action, we also get to see a short clip of driving action, as Tony outruns the cops behind the wheel of his vehicle, (sadly not his insanely garish Cadillac). We are also shown a very basic build of the game's revival mechanic, perhaps suggesting that Scarface: Empire would have had a team-based multiplayer mode. Throughout all of the above footage, we hear the foul-mouthed spewing of Mr??. Montana himself, once a?gain voiced by a (pretty good) soundalike actor, André Sogliuzzo.

Scarface: The World is Yours sounded like a disaster on paper; a quick Grand Theft Auto cash-in that goes as far as to rewrite the ending of Brian DePalma's fascinatingly ugly 1983 movie. Surprisingly, however, the PS2, Xbox, and Nintendo Wii relea?se was actually a perfectly fine third-person shooter, clearly making enough of a sales impact to warrant the commissioning of this sequel. Of course, as we know, it would not come to pass, and today Radical Entertainment is essentially no more, having been absorbed into gaming's Unicron, Activision Blizzard.

Still, it's always intriguing to see videos of unfinished titles, adding small and often melancholy footnotes to the history of video gaming. For more crime sim content, be sure to visit Mafia Game Demos.

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All (Battle) Points Bulletin

Two Los Angeles Police Department officers were fired in 2017 for choosing to go on a Pokémon GO jaunt rather than respond to a robbery-in-progress callout. The bizarre story was revealed in newly released documents recounting the incident, which took place during Pokémon GO's golden years.

As reported by Vice, LAPD officers Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell were patrolling a Los Angeles mall in the spring of 2017 �a time in which Pokémon GO fever had softened a little, but was still riding high. Asked by LAPD control to respond to a robbery-in-progress in the area, Lozano and Mitchell instead attended the more urgent call of capturing a nearby Snorlax in the augmented reality title. The? pair's proceeding hunt was then recorded via their patrol car's "?DIVCS" monitoring system.

As written in the ensuing court documents: (Y'all ready for this?)

"Officer Mitchell alerted Lozano that 'Snorlax' 'just popped up' at '46th and Leimert.' After noting that 'Leimert doesn’t go all the way to 46th,' Lozano responded, '?Oh, you [know] what I can do? I’ll [go] down 11th and swing up on Crenshaw. I know that way I can get to it.' Mitchell suggested a different route, then told Lozano, 'We got four minutes.'"

"After Mitchell apparently caught the Snorlax �exclaiming 'got ‘em' �petitioners agreed to 'Go get the Togetic' and drove ?off. When their car stopped again, the DICVS recorded Mitchell saying 'Don’t run away. Don’t run away,' while Lozano described how he 'buried it and ultra-balled' the Togetic before announcing, 'Got him'. Eventually, Mitchell exclaimed, 'Holy Crap. Finally,' apparently in reference to capturing the Togetic, and he remarked, 'The guys are going to be so jealous.'"

The Board of Rights, understandably, did not tak??e too kindly to the officers' extracurricul?ar activity.

"Playing Pokémon GO showed complete disregard for the community, wasted reso?urces, violated public trust, and was unprofessional and embarrassing to the Department," said the LAPD Board of Rights of the incident." Further nothing that the officers "behavior reflected gross negligence, c??owardice, lack of thoughtfulness and deceit."

Lozano and Mitchell appealed against their dismissal on? the grounds that their privacy had been violated by listening to the DICVS recording. This appeal was denied by a Los Angeles court on January 7,?? 2022.

Detective Pikachu was unavailable for comment.

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Ongoing ROM piracy case continues

Gary Bowser, the associate of long-time hack-maker Team Xecuter, has revised their plea in the ongoing Nintendo piracy lawsuit. The 51-year-old Canadian ?defendant is facing $4.5 million USD in fines??, as well as a possible prison sentence.

Bowser was arrested in the Dominican Republic in S?eptember 2020 following an FBI investigation. After being extradited to the United States, Bowser, who is also known online as "GaryOPA," faces felony charges for the alleged creation and distribution of Nintendo Switch “jailbreak�devices such as the SX Core and SX Lite, which allow for the use of bootleg ROMs and g??ame cartridges. Bowser put in a plea of Not Guilty to all charges, which include Conspiracy to Circumvent Technological Measures and the Trafficking of Circumvention Devices, but altered his plea on October 28, 2021.

"Defendant, Gary Bowser knowingly and willfully participated in a cybercriminal enterprise that hacked leading gaming consoles and that developed, manufactured, marketed, and sold a variety of circumvention devices that allowed the enterprise’s customers to play pirated versions of copyrighted video games, commonly referred to as 'ROM,'" reads the plea agreement. "Mr. Bowser’s role was to market the enterprise’s products, post news releases? about new products a?nd updates to products, and work with retailers who distributed the enterprise’s products. Mr. Bowser would also post replies to inquiries from customers of these illegal circumvention devices on [website] Maxconsole.com."

At the time of Bowser's arrest, the FBI also collared French national Max Louarn. Louarn, who faces 11 felony charges related to the case, is currently in Canada, with the U.S. still seeking extradition. A third associate, Yuanning Chen from Shenzhen, China, has yet to be located for arrest. It is posited that Team Xecuter had earned "tens of millions" of dollars from the sales of piracy devices, netting its organizers six-figure salaries. The Team Xecuter case is one of a number of lawsuits pursued by?? Nintendo in recent years, as the publisher attempts to crack down on the piracy?? of its products.

Team Xecuter's Ga??ry Bowser pleads guilty to criminal charges [TorrentFreak]

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Criminal complaint was filed back in 2019

Fighting game developer Arika has revealed that it has been embroiled in a two-year-long investigation to identify and bring charges to an individual who had sent death threats to the studio. The perpetrator pleaded guilty to the crime earlier this month, following a series of indictment charges that we??re brought against them in September 2021.

The perpetrator �the details of whom were not released �contacted the Fighting EX Layer developer on September 3, 2019, threatening harm against the company and claiming that they would kill its executiv??e staff members, police have not revealed the motivation behind the threat. Arika filed an official criminal complaint against the perpetrator in November 2019 but were asked by authorities not to publicly reveal the situation, hence why the incident is only now coming to light.

?After a year-long investigation, the perpetrator was ?identified in October 2020, yet it has taken a further year to officially level charges against them. The case was sent to the Public Prosecutor in April of this year, who indicated the suspect in September, who pleaded guilty to the act on October 5, 2021 �finally bringing an end to the lengthy but important process. Arika has stated that it takes a firm stance against abuse, and will similarly pursue any further threats against the company.

The death threat against Arika is yet another example of what has seemingly become an occupational hazard within the gaming industry �a terrible side-effect of studios and their empl??oyees being far more visible and contactable than they were in gaming's earlier eras. Arika hopes that publicly demonstrating a company's abilities to identify and arrest those who would threaten harm against its ?staff might help to deter further acts of abuse against both itself and other studios.

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Hacking device looks suspiciously familiar

A gang of car thieves has been jailed after breaking into and stealing vehicles with a bizarre hacking ??tool shaped like Nintendo's phenomenal handheld console, Game Boy. Three men were convicted by Leeds Crown Court in the UK after pleading guilty? to the charge of conspiracy to stealing.

It is reported that the men were able to use the hacking device to unlock and make off with five Mitsubishi Outlanders, totaling somewhere in the region of £180,000 in value. The men were finally arrested after stealing the fifth sport-utility vehicle from its owner's driveway on July 20. The BBC reports that CCTV captured the thieves in action, with Leeds police being fur??ther helped by the fact the trio had al??so filmed themselves committing some of the thefts... a form of evidence that is starting to become increasingly popular.

According to cybercrime expert Marcus Hutchins, the device �which looks similar to the classic handheld console albeit black and emblazoned with the word "'Sup" �works by mirroring short-wave frequencies, reflecting an identical pattern used by a digital key-fob. Once in close proximity to both the vehicle and its owner, (such as in a home driveway), the device essentially ascertains and then reflects the fob's signal, disguising itself as the bespoke key. This allowed simple access to the car's interior without the need for? shattered windows or any other forcible, attention-drawing methods.

The ringleader of the group was sentenced to jail fo??r 30 months, while two accomplices received suspended sentences of 22 months each. Rumors that you had to blow into the port in order to get the device to work remain unsubstantiated.

U?K thieves jailed after stealing £180K of cars w??ith a "Game Boy" [PC Gamer]

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Users advised to reset stream keys and update passwords

[Update: Twitch has confirmed that the data breach is genuine and will update the community about the hack when it has more information.]

According to reports this morning, Twitch has been hacked wide-open by person or persons unknown. The live-streaming site's source code, along with an abundance of related acc?ount data, has been supposedly leaked as an online t??orrent.

First reported by VGC, the 128GB release was uploaded onto online forums by an anonymous hacker, who claimed that they found the Twitch community a "disgusting toxic cesspool" with the goal of the hack/leak being to "foster more disruption and competitio??n in the online video streaming space". The leak appears to be genuine, as members of the public have already begun sifting through the torr?ent's contents in order to publish private data and details pertaining to popular streamers and �more specifically �their earnings.

The hacked data is said to contain the entirety of the Twitch.tv build �which includes clients for desktop, mobile, and console, as well as comment ??histories; a selection of proprietary SDKs and internal AWS services; all associated Twitch properties including IGDB and CurseFor??ge; internal developer "red-teaming" tools, (used for the purpose of hack testing); an unreleased "Steam-style" platform which was originally conceived by Amazon Game Studios; and Creator Payout Reports, reportedly dating as far back as 2019.

It is assumed that a huge data du??mp of Twitch users' personal details is also in the mix, and thus it would be wise for all users to reset their Stream Keys and update their associated passwords.

Twitch is yet to officially comment on the event. According to a VGC source, the company is aware of the security breach?, with suggestions that the data was hacked as recently as Monday, October 4.

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EA says hack will not put player data at risk

Electronic Arts has?? been left reeling in the aftermath of a serious data breach in which?? hackers made off with almost 800GB of confidential data, including the source code for several video games and developer DICE's Frostbite engine.

As reported by VICE Motherboard, person or persons gained access to EA's databases and made off with what's believed to be 780GB of data, with an intent to sell the stolen code. The data includes the source code for FIFA 21 and its respective matchmaking server, the code for DICE's Frostbite engine, (used for titles such as Battlefield and Mirror's Edge??), and a variety of development streamlining tools and software development kits. EA confirmed the attack to VICE, but stated that player data is not at risk, nor does it believe the results of the attack will hinder the publisher's productions.

"We are investigating a recent incident of intrusion into our network where a limited amount ??of game source code and related tools were stolen," said an EA spokesperson in a statement. "No player data was accessed, and we have no reason to believe there is any risk to ??player privacy. Following the incident, we’ve already made security improvements and do not expect an impact on our games or our business. We are actively working with law enforcement officials and other experts as part of this ongoing criminal investigation."

EA ha?s noted that it is working with authorities to ascertain the details of the attack and has?? since increased the security on its internal servers.

This event is the latest in several serious data breaches that have occurred at major publishers. Back in February of this year, CD Projekt RED was ransacked in a "targeted cyber attack", where hackers made off with the source code for Cyberpunk 2077, an unreleased edition of The Witcher 3, and a wide variety of confidential documents and employee details. In November 2020, Resident Evil developer Capcom was also targeted by hackers, in an a?ttack that saw much of the studio's upcoming plans leaked onto the internet, alongside the theft of thousands of company and employe??e records.

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Nintendo sends stark message to piracy sites

There's an old saying in law that a man who represents himself in court has a fool for a client. I wouldn't know, I'm too squeaky clean to have been in that situation, but it's an axiom that wasn't heeded by a ROM-site owner when they stood against Nintendo in a recent copyright infringement suit. As reported by TorrentFreak, a judge has ruled in Nintendo's favor to the tun??e of a staggering $2.1 million.

The suit was filed by Nintendo way back in late-2019, after the publisher alleged that website ROMUniverse was responsible for the uploading of and profiteering from Nintendo copyrighted material, including Switch game ROMs. Site owner Matthew Storman, who chose to defend himself in court without an attorney, argued that not only was the site legal in the eyes of the law, but that they had never personally uploaded any of the site's available ROMs. It was later discovered that Storman had previousl??y admitted to uploading said ROMs in a previous ?courtroom deposition.

While ??Nintendo originally sought a grand total of $15 million in damages from Storman �equating to $95,000 USD for each of ROMUniverse's 49 available products �presiding Judge Marshall decided upon a smaller, but still hugely significant sum of $2.1 million �or $35,000 per product. Additio??nally, Storman will pay Nintendo $400,000 in total trademark damages.

Of course, Nintendo doesn't need this money, but this is the latest in a long line of examples of the publisher going above and beyond in order to protect its assets and send stark messages to any?body else considering the same behavior. Nintendo clearly hopes that the ruling will dissuade further ROM-selling sites from engaging in the distribution of its products, lest they find themselves next in the dock and facing an equally frighting punishment.

ROMUniverse, unsurprisingly, has closed down.

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The Boss is Back

Epic Games Store's one-year exclusivity deal is just about up, and Deep Silver's outrageous crime sim sequel Saints Row The Third: Remastered is getting set to bring its explicit carnage to the Steam platform. According to a quiet reveal on the official Twitter account, the remaster will launch on Steam May 22, joining its PS4, Xbox One, and Stadia ??siblings.

An updated edition of Volition's 2011 sequel, Saints Row The Third: Remastered sees the brutal open-world franchise take a turn for the absolute bizarre, retaining the gritty urban violence of its predecessors, while simultaneously snorting a helluva lot of insanity. Hyperactive game shows, giant plastic heads, tigers in Cadillacs, luchador gangbangers, squid-firing?? laser guns, and the notorious "Pen?etrator" baseball bat redefined the Saints Row franchise, kicking off a spiral of insanity that would only get crazier.

Saints Row The Third: Remastered features the original game in its "Full Package" form, complete with all DLC expansions and extra content. Under the hood, Remastered also boasts improved textures, lighting, and visual effects, HDR implementation, improved loading times, and a slicker frame rate. Far from just a mere upscale, this release is a significant upgrade over the original. A full decade after release, Saints Row The Third: Remastered  ?still worth checking out for a few hours of wanton, madcap, brain-bursting carnage.

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'Fan' allegedly motivated by 'bunny girl DLC' controversy

On April 24, a knife-wielding attacker was arrested at the offices of Genshin Impact developer miHoYo??. While police are still to release an official statement, it is being reported that the man invaded the developer's Shanghai offices, allegedly with the intent to kill miHoYo's founders and then himself.

According to reports from Chinese news outlet Baidu (as translated by The Gamer), the alleged attacker sought revenge on miHoYo for reasons pertaining to an update to one of the developer's other releases: Honkai Impact 3rd. As part of the free-to-play titl??e's third-anniversary celebrations, miHoYo released a video featuring the cast dancing in "bunny girl" outfits, with s??aid skins and dance emotes being made available in-game as paid DLC, but only in territories outside of China.

Some members of the Honkai Impact community took exception to this on several levels. Some were frustrated that the DLC was excluded from China, while others believed that the "bunny girl" look wasn't appropriate attire for Honkai Impact's cast of war-faring waifus. On April 22, miHoYo decided to abandon the event altogether. It is being reported that the attacker has admitted to this controversy being a key motivator in their assault on miHoYo — though it should be recl?arified that the police are yet to officially confirm this.

Thankfully, nobody was injured in the attack, with the attacker subdued and arrested before they could carry out their terrifying intentions. As of this writing,? neither the police nor miHoYo have officiall?y addressed the incident.

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Bowser's day in court beckons

Ninten??do of America has filed a new lawsuit agains??t an associate of long-time hack-maker Team Xecuter.

Following an F.B.I. investigation, Canadian Gary Bowser was arrested in the Dominican Repub??lic in September 2020, before being extradited to the U.S. to face felo?ny charges for the alleged creation and di?stribution of Nintendo Switch "jailbreak" devices such as the SX Core and SX Lite.

As reported by Polygon, Nintendo served a new lawsuit in a Seattle court last week, alleging that Bowser infringed on Nintendo's copyright by creating and distributing the hacking devices. The lawsuit demands restitution in the amount of $2,500 USD for each trafficked dev??ice, and $?150,000 for each copyright violation, as well as the complete shutdown of Bowser's mod-making operations.

Bowser is one of a trio of Team Xecuter members facing felony charges for their part in alleged Switch hacking operations. French National Max Louarn was also arrested in September?? in Canada, with authorities still seeking U.S. extradition. A third associate, Chinese national Yuanning Chen, is still being sought by authorities.

The Team Xecuter arrests are part of an ongoing investigation and crackdown by Nintendo on the makers and distributors of hacking devices. Earlier in September 2020, Ohio-based hack-maker Uberchips was directed by the courts to pay $2 million USD in damages to Nintendo for its part in the distribution of Team Xecuter's products??.

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Crackedcom

Capcom has announced that it has completed an in-depth investigation into a major breach of security that befell the publisher?? in November 2020, which led to the theft of hundreds of thousands of pieces of data pertaining to the developer, its employees, and customers.

In a detailed and forthright update?? regarding the investigation's findings, Capcom announced that it believes some 350,000 items of personal data were stolen or should be considered "at-risk" in the a?ttack. This includes the addresses, contact details - and in some cases passport numbers - of many of Capcom's current and former employees, as well as its shareholders.

The Japanese division of Capcom is believed the hardest hit in regard to sensitive information loss, with sales reports and other financial inform??ation pertinent to the company confirmed stolen. However, despite this enormous data breach, Capcom remains confident that none of the compromised data contains the credit card information of its customers.

It is believed that the theft was perpetrated by a known hacking group as part of a suspected ransomware attack. In the update, Capcom states that while a ransom message was left as part of the attack, no specific "d?ollar amount" was ever demanded from the company. Under law enforcement direction, Capcom declined to engage with the hacker any further. In any case, some of the stolen data - including supposed unannounced projects - would eventually leak onto the internet.

"Capcom would once again like to reiterate its deepest apo?logies for any complications or concerns caused by the incident," closes the report. "As a company that handles digital content, it is treating this incident with the utmost seriousness, and will take the appropriate action to address any requests or directions provided by law enforcement and other relevant authorities in each country. At the same time, Capcom will endeavor to further strengthen its management structure while coordinating with the relevant organizations to pursue its legal options regarding criminal acts."

Capcom encourages users concerned with the situation to contact its customer service department.

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Duping the Dew

The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has announced that it is working in close proximity with U.S. law enforcement, including the FBI to investigate accusations of match-fixing in the competitive world of online shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Ian Smith, Integrity Commissioner for the ESIC, revealed the operation in a conversation with YouTube channel Slash32. According to Kotaku Australia, Smith confirmed that there was indeed an investigation underway concerning a "relatively small but significant group of players" suspected of fixing matches in the CS:GO North American Mountain Dew League.

"[It’s] what I would describe as classic match-fixing," said Smith in the interview. "In other words, it’s players being bribed by outside betting syndicates in order to fix matches. Rather than players doing it off their own backs, opportunistically [...] it's been going on for longer, it's much more organi?zed [than previous match-fixing schemes]."

Smith says that the ESIC has been gathering evidence and is preparing to go public with its findings, and any related charges, within the next fortnight. The investigation comes a mere six months after the previous scandal, which saw seven Australian CS:GO players banned for a year after breaching the MDL's Anti-Corruption rules. This was followed by the ESIC issuing a total of 35 bans in January against players?? found to be betting on their own matches.

Perhaps the introduction of a law enforcement agency as powerful as the FBI might lead some players within the esports world to toe the line a li?ttle more. But, (perhaps a little more realistically), it's a competitive scene and there's money involved - hence, corruptio??n. As surely as night follows day.

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Foul

Electronic Arts has confirmed that "one or more" EA accounts have been used in an illicit trading scheme within soccer sim FIFA 21. Dubbed "EAGate" by the player community, the scandal alleges that EA employee?s have been involved in the selling of rare FIFA Ultimate Team cards directly to individual players - in some cases for thousands of Euros.

After screengrabs of the alleged transactions leaked onto social media, EA announced that it would be launching a "thorough investigation" into the affair. Speaking in a new blog post this past weekend, the publisher confirmed that EA accounts have been used to activate? specific FUT?? items in individual players' accounts.

"We learned that FUT items were granted to individual accounts that did not earn them through gameplay," said EA in the statement. "It appears that one or more EA accounts, which wer??e either compromised or being used inappropriately by someone within EA, directly entitled items to these individual accounts."

"The alleged behavior? is unacceptable and in no way do we condone granting or purchasing player items in exchange for money. This practice runs counter to the game's competitive integrity, is a violation of EA’s User Agreement, and is not something we tolerate. We do not allow the trade or sale of items outside our game for many reasons, including that it would create an unequal playing field for our community."

EA says that the investigation is ongoing and that the publisher intends to take action against any employee found to be involved in this activity. Additionally, it will be removing any "under-the-table" FUT items from the FIFA 21 ecosystem, and will permanently ban all players who partook in unofficial trading. It is unlikely that those who spent thousands on said transactions will see any return on their money. For the duration of the investigation, EA will also disable the ability for developers to "grant" items directly to player accounts.

"We appreciate how concerning this is? to all of our players, and we apologize for the impact of these improper grants within the community, "closes the statement. "We also appreciate how extremely annoying and frustrating it is that this practice mi??ght have come from within EA. We’re angry too. We know that the trust of our communities is hard-earned, and is based on principles of Fair Play [...] This is a breach of that principle - and we won’t let it stand."

The moral of the story is... Actually, I?'m not sure where to begin...

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Offside or On-the-Side?

Electronic Arts has announced it has begun a "thorough investigation" into allegations that one of its employees has sold rare FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) cards directly to players in the FIFA 21 community.

In what has been dubbed by the internet as #EAGate, (because of course it has), multiple Twitter users posted images - as collated by Eurogamer - that allege to show evidence of deals made between FIFA players and ??at least one EA employee via ?direct messaging services.

The supposed transactions revolve around the direct selling of FUT "Icon Moments" - incredibly rare cards based on legendary footballers such as Pele, Zinedine Zidane, and Ruud Guillet. One tweet shows an alleged transaction that features one Icon Moment and two Team of the Year cards changing hands for a total of €1,000 (roughly $1,200 USD). Another example allegedly shows three Icon Moments and tw?o Team of the Year cards selling off-market for €1,700 (or?? around $2,000 USD).

This morning, Electronic Arts released an official statement regarding the scandal, announcing that it was in the process of launching a thorough investigation into the situation. "We understa??nd how this creates concern about unfair balance in the g??ame and competition," said the publisher on Twitter...

...beca??use sometimes a punchline just writes itself.

FIFA 21 rocked by "EAGate" sc??andal after employee is alleged to have sold cards [Eurogamer]

pic.twitter.com/DtclTPandl

— EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) March 10, 2021

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And you can take that to the bank

Square Enix has announced that it has taken steps to ban the accounts of over 5000 Final Fantasy XIV players, after the publisher discovered evidence that the owners of said accounts were engaged in real-??money trading (RMT) and other "illicit activities" within its online RPG.

The account purge - which took place during the final week of February 2021 - was noted on the official Square Enix website in a very officious statement, also asking the FF XIV community for its help in t??????????????????????????he identifying and reporti??ng of traders and in-game cheaters.

"Real money trading (RMT) and other illicit activities upset the balance of the game and, as such, are prohibited under the Terms of Service," said the publi?sher. "Players who discover any confirmed cheats should, under no circumstances, exploit or disseminate such in?formation. Instead, we ask that players file a report by using the in-game command [System Menu] > [Support Desk] > [Contact Us] > [Report Cheating]."

"In addition, any witnessed RMT advertisement can be reported by right clicking the character name in the chat log and selecting the menu [Report] > [Report RMT Activity].
The report will be processed automatically, and if determined to fall under RMT advertising, the reported character's comments will be restricted. We will continue to take stringent disciplinary action against any accounts with confirmed involvement in RMT/illicit activit?y; players should take care to ?steer clear of any activity that violates the Terms of Service."

Final Fantasy XIV launched on PC back in the fall of 2010 and is still going strong over a decade later, with an approximate 20 million players having logged in to the continent of Eorzea since the title's launch. A brand new expansion, Endwalker, is currently in deve??lopment at Square?? Enix, and is scheduled to launch in-game this fall.

Final Fantasy?? XIV bans over 5,000 players for using real money in-game [PCGamesN]

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I Fought the Law

This weekend saw Blizzard Entertainment shine the spotlight on its early years, with the release of The Blizzard Arcade Collection - a compilation of three classic Blizzard titles that were never arcades: The Lost Vikings, Blackthorne, and Rock n' Roll Racing. These are three of the classic console releases that helped put the Warcraft developer on the map back in the heady 1990s.

Unfortunately, in 2021, video gaming is a very different bag of puffins, and the advent of the internet and video streaming sites has made things a little more complex than they once were, at least from a legal standpoint. As such, when it comes to 1993's Rock n' Roll Racing, Blizzard is suggesting that streamers play with the isometri??c racer's?? excellent score switched off, lest they find themselves in trouble with The Man.

Yes, thanks to the ever-present threat of content algorithms on ?websites such as Twitch, a tinny, 16-bit rendition of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" or Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild" could destroy the music industry as we know it, and so, to avoid being picked up by said algorithm, Blizzard advises that you turn off the backing tracks - a key component of the game's concept - in order to comply with streaming rules on copyrig?ht. Given the recent - and highly amusing - instance which saw Metallica muted for piano music during the BlizzConline opening ceremony, it's understandable that such matters are at the forefront of the developer's mind.

Don't play Rock n' Roll Racing with the music?? on, or you may trigger a DMCA. Jesu??s wept.

PSA: If you stream Ro??ck N Roll Racing from the Blizzard Arcade Collection, the game has a soundtrack of licensed music which is not cleared for streaming.

I?f you choose to stream, please do so wit??h the music turned off.

— Adam Fletcher (@PezRadar) February 20, 2021

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Multiple CDPR releases supposedly on the black market

Last week, we reported how CD Projekt RED had run afoul of a "targeted cyber attack," with a party of unknown persons reportedly stealing staggering amount?s of data from the Polish developer, including the source code to some of its bi??ggest and most recent releases.

Initially the hackers - a group calling itself "HelloKitty" - tried to ransom the stolen data to CDPR, who went public with the entire affair while clearly stating it had no intent of paying the persons responsible. This weekend, it was reported by cyber intelligence group Kela that HelloKitty held an auction on the "dark web," where it allegedly sold the source code for CDPR's recent release Cyberpunk 2077. Kela reports that the actual sale took place outside of the a??uction itself, which report?edly had an opening bid of $1 million USD and a sale price of $7 million USD.

It is alleged that HelloKitty also has copies of the source code for both retail and unreleased builds of 2015's The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, as well as the code for Witcher's spin-off card game, Gwent. In a statement posted last week, CDPR said that it believes the personal details of its employees remain safe. The attack and supposed sale is the latest in a string of nightmares for CD Projekt RED, which has spent the past few months defending itself against numerous lawsuits and negative publicity over the rocky launch of Cyberpunk 2077, which lead CEO Marcin Iwinski to release an official apology video.

CDPR is working with IT specialists and law enforcement of?ficials to investigate the situation.

Cyberpunk 2077 studio's hacked data has rep??ortedly been sold [The Verge]

The post CDPR hackers reportedly sell Cyber?punk 2077 code following $7 million ??auction appeared first on Destructoid.

Cyberpunk 2077 source code reportedly stolen

CD Projekt RED has announced that it has become the victim of a serious "targeted cyber attack," with an unknown person or persons having stolen private data from the Polish developer's servers.

CDPR has noted that it has full backups of all of the stolen data, which is believed to include the source code to the studio's recent release Cyberpunk 2077, code for an unreleased edition of Witcher 3, as well as "documents relating to account?ing, administration, legal, HR, investor relations and more." CDPR has said that - to the best of its knowledge - no data involving players' personal information is at risk.

In a surprising move, CDPR also release?d a copy of the "ransom note" it received from the hacker(s), reques?ting that CDPR contact the individual(s) responsible or face public release of the hacked documents, source code, and other data files. CDPR has said it will "not give in to the demands nor negotiate with the actor, being aware that this may eventually lead to the release of the compromised data."

The studio is currently investigating the security breach with the help of its IT analysts, law en?forcement officials, and the President of the Personal Data Protection Office.

Important Update pic.twitter.com/PCEuhAJosR

— CD PROJEKT RED (@CDPROJEKTRED) February 9, 2021

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Hardly a scheme worthy of Team Rocket

A Japanese man has been arrested by authorities for allegedly generating and selling hacked critters from Nintendo Switch release Pokémon Sword & Shield??. The?? 23-year-old was apprehended in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture after being caught allegedly selling a hacked Sobble.

The suspect is accused of having used a "jailbroken" Nintendo Switch console to run a service online in which they would create hacked Pokémon to order, with each critter retailing for around ¥500, with a commission fee of up to ¥800 should an individual order six Pokémon or more. It is alleged that the man has made somewhere in the region of ¥1.15 million (or roughly $10,000 USD) since Pokémon Sword & Shield's release in November 2019.

The arrest comes shortly after Nintendo Japan's January statement where the publisher announced its intention to come down hard on players who utilize titles such as Pokémon Sword & Shield, Pokémon GO, and the Pokémon Home service for nefarious or criminal purposes, banning accounts, restricting?? access to the service or, in this case, sending in Five-O.

"We have confirmed that some users are playing Pokémon Sword & Shield and Pokémon Home using illegally modified data," said Nintendo. "We will regularly monitor and respond to fraudulent and annoying acts ??so that our users can enjoy themselves with peace of mind. We look forward to your continued support of the Pokémon series."

So, if you're on a mission to be the very best, like no-one ever was, better? stick to the rules.

Man arrested after sellin??g hacked Sobble from Pokémon Sword & Shield [Asahi News / Kotaku]

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