CD Projekt shares fall after hack
Poland’s biggest computer game maker CD Projekt SA dropped the most in a week after becoming a victim of what it described as a targeted cyber attack.
The hack compromised some of its internal systems and also included a ransom demand, the company said in a statement posted on Twitter on Tuesday.
CD Projekt lost as much as 6.3%, before paring losses to 4.1%, the worst performing stock in Warsaw’s WIG20 index.
The attack adds to CD Projekt’s woes as the company tries to clean up after a botched December release of its much-anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 game.
As the studio scrambles to return the title to Sony Playstation store, it could further slow down the process of releasing bug fixes and patches, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Matthew Kanterman.
“With these efforts already likely to delay new content releases and the eventual multi-player mode, this could further push out the timeline,” he said.
CD Project said it won’t give in to hacker’s demands and to its “best knowledge” the compromised systems didn’t contain any personal data of its players or users.
The company is investigating the incident and has already reached out to authorities and IT forensic specialists for help. Its backup systems remain intact, according to the statement.
The studio confirmed the authenticity of its tweet by phone, but declined to give more details.
Unfortunate Timing
The purported ransom note released by CD Projekt shows a hacker claiming to have stolen source codes of some of its blockbuster games, including Cyberpunk 2077 as well as the “unreleased version of Witcher 3.”
The note also says the attack is intended to destroy the company’s public image and cause a lost of trust among investors.
The company already became victim of hackers’ attack in 2014, when it informed about a leak of Witcher 3 production data, including its gameplay — months before the official release of the firm’s best-selling game.
“The timing of this attack is unfortunate as it undermines CD Projekt’s efforts to restore its reputation among gamers,” Kacper Kopron, an analyst at Trigon Dom Maklerski SA brokerage, said by phone.
While Kopron doesn’t expect much of an impact from potential illegal sale of games obtained by hackers, the leaks of future versions of its products appear as a significant risk for the company, he said.
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