Tuesday, December 31st 2024
Path of Exile 2 Security Breach Blindsides Players With Lost Loot As Developer Remains Silent
A new security breach is trying to pump the brakes on Path Of Exile 2's overwhelmingly positive late 2024 launch, as a mysterious hack appears to be making the rounds in the new RPG, although the source of the vulnerability is yet to be identified. According to a growing number of posts on the Path of Exile 2 forum, subreddit, and even the game's Steam reviews, players are apparently logging into their PoE 2 accounts only to find that all their loot and gear they've now spent dozens or even hundreds of hours grinding for, has been removed from their accounts. The most alarming thing is that nobody seems to know how these hacks are happening. Some players say they changed their main email address and Steam login passwords days before they were hacked, and most seem to have no Steam 2FA requests, suggesting that there is either a security issue with the Path of Exile 2 game servers or there is some sort of session hijacking happening that is giving bad actors access to player accounts.
Until now, Grinding Gear Games, the developer behind Path of Exile 2, has not openly commented on the hacking incidents, with a single comment from the support team on the forum advising players to email support about it if they encounter such instances. According to the Steam review mentioning an account hacking incident, however, the player managed to track down the hacker on his own, subsequently contacted support and posted about it in the PoE 2 forum, and asked the moderator to assist in preventing the sale of the rest of his goods. This attempt was apparently enough to get the gamer's forum posts removed and put on probation. Meanwhile, the support request was met even more unkindly, with PoE 2 support going so far as to lock him out of his own account. He also isn't alone, with others in the Path of Exile 2 forum reporting that sharing the in-game name of their alleged hacker with support has led to their game account being locked.
Some have theorized that the hacks are linked to real-money trading or third-party in-game overlays or mods, however this has been refuted by a number of victims in the game forum. Currently, it seems like players have little hopes of getting the gear or items they lost in the hacks back, since adding a swathe of rare items into the game's economy out of the blue would likely be bad for the overall balance.
For the time being, until Grinding Gear Games finds a way to reliably deal with the hackers, it looks like players will just have to be extra careful who they interact with and how they keep their online gaming world secure, although there seemingly isn't much security from this threat in the likes of strong passwords or even Steam 2FA. While Path of Exile 2 is still in early access, meaning oversights and bugs are to be expected, it is also a paid early access period, so many gamers somewhat reasonably expect that security issues would be dealt with more swiftly and decisively than they have been so far.
Sources:
Path of Exile forums, Path of Exile 2 on Steam, r/PathofExile on Reddit
Until now, Grinding Gear Games, the developer behind Path of Exile 2, has not openly commented on the hacking incidents, with a single comment from the support team on the forum advising players to email support about it if they encounter such instances. According to the Steam review mentioning an account hacking incident, however, the player managed to track down the hacker on his own, subsequently contacted support and posted about it in the PoE 2 forum, and asked the moderator to assist in preventing the sale of the rest of his goods. This attempt was apparently enough to get the gamer's forum posts removed and put on probation. Meanwhile, the support request was met even more unkindly, with PoE 2 support going so far as to lock him out of his own account. He also isn't alone, with others in the Path of Exile 2 forum reporting that sharing the in-game name of their alleged hacker with support has led to their game account being locked.
For the time being, until Grinding Gear Games finds a way to reliably deal with the hackers, it looks like players will just have to be extra careful who they interact with and how they keep their online gaming world secure, although there seemingly isn't much security from this threat in the likes of strong passwords or even Steam 2FA. While Path of Exile 2 is still in early access, meaning oversights and bugs are to be expected, it is also a paid early access period, so many gamers somewhat reasonably expect that security issues would be dealt with more swiftly and decisively than they have been so far.
45 Comments on Path of Exile 2 Security Breach Blindsides Players With Lost Loot As Developer Remains Silent
Early.
Access.
I guess fools and gametime got parted here.
I hope people learn and devs get wiser.
Paying for unfinished product is just stupidity. Its a pre order with a different name and apparently, it doesn't add to the quality of the release.
I can patiently wait another year until it becomes Free-To-Play. No rush.
Early Access with a good developer who constantly takes feedback and improves the game based on it is a great experience. Unfortunately, I genuinely don’t know of any cases that would be applicable except for Supergiant and Larian. Mostly it is a shitshow or, indeed, a paid beta.
I went through the whole game without performance or stability issues. The first day was full of server issues, but that's all.
Subnautica
Timberborn
The Long Dark
Farthest Frontier
Dyson Sphere Program
Satisfactory
Terra Invicta
There is little difference between a good EA release and a 1.0 release.Hey wait a minute, you play and like Farthest Frontier!
1. fix it.
2. do a complete wipe and make everyone start all over for obvious reasons.
3. publish findings for breech
4. apologize to the player base.
5 continue on ignoring player postings for 3-12 months.
I mean why else would they lock the accounts of those who are getting "hacked" im guessing there is more to this than what people on those forums and reddit are saying
Many others and I also have a bad issue with the game right now.
Often times when it is loading a map, the game breaks the CPU, forcing a hard crash. The only thing you can do afterwards is to cut power for a restart, forcing you to lose data.
If you are unlucky the OS might break and you have to reinstall your whole PC.
That problem exists since launch of early access.And still selling packs with cosmetic and functional ingame items for over 450$... And the same people buying those packs are probably hating about Diablo 4 and the Skin-Shop...
Sure, if you're after a hassle-free experience, you will wait for the official release. But if you want to jump in early and, for a change, make a contribution, I can't think of a better title than PoE.
The first PoE had the monetary part done quite well but also kept pushing more and more new 'kinda have to pay to play' elements for example by simply flooding your stash with new collectibles/materials.
Stash tabs... Yes, that always comes up. It's the only thing you can buy that will net you an advantage. But the advantage is you can hoard and categorize stuff, it's not directly linked to gameplay. They become a requirement eventually. But by the time they do, you've already played enough of the game that the few $$$ you throw the devs way are (imho) just a small token of gratitude for the time already spent in the game. And tabs were discounted almost all the time. Checking right now, you can get 6 regular tabs for $15 or 6 premium tabs for $20 (full price). That used to be a lot. Though it seems quite a few other stash tab types have popped up since I quit.
TL;DR Yes, stash tabs mean you will have to spend if you want to keep advancing. No, I still don't see that as p2w (but I understand why others might).
Although already stopped playing a while ago, they really need to fix their terrible netcode first.
I stopped playing, because it crashes regulary. The only game that crashes on my PC btw. And the only one in the last 4+ years that completely freezes my PC.
www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/us-treasurys-workstations-hacked-cyberattack-by-china-afp-reports-2024-12-30/