Importance Score: 55 / 100 🔵
StarCraft 2 Hit by Hackers Exploiting Disturbing Content
StarCraft 2 is facing a serious issue as hackers reportedly exploit vulnerabilities to expose players to deeply disturbing content. Reports indicate that unsuspecting gamers are being confronted with graphic footage, including real-life shooting incidents, as well as videos with rapidly flashing lights seemingly engineered to induce seizures. Blizzard Entertainment has acknowledged the issue and is investigating these StarCraft 2 hacks, but evidence suggests these exploits have been ongoing for at least a year.
Details of the StarCraft 2 Hack Incident
On April 20, a StarCraft 2 player recounted a harrowing experience of a hacker injecting a video of a mass shooting directly into their game during an online session. The Reddit user, Tad0422, explained that the incident occurred while playing a map within StarCraft 2‘s Arcade, a feature that enables players to upload and share custom-made maps and game modes. During a session with friends, they encountered unfamiliar players who triggered the disturbing content.
“About 3 minutes later a video appeared on my screen,” Tado422 stated. “I have never seen this before but it took up the whole screen. It was a Russian pop video or something that played for 20 seconds or so. Most of us were talking in chat about what the heck was happening.”
Shortly after, a second, far more disturbing video appeared, depicting a man entering a store and shooting individuals at point-blank range.
“At this moment I freaked out and hard closed out of StarCraft 2. My 5 year old daughter was in the room with me, half paying attention to me playing a video game. This is beyond unacceptable. I should never have to worry about seeing people murdered or porn while playing a SC2 game.”
Community Response and Further Reports of StarCraft 2 Exploits
Tad0422’s post gained significant traction on Reddit, prompting numerous other StarCraft 2 players to share their own encounters with hackers injecting disruptive and graphic videos directly into their gaming sessions. Tado422 provided a replay of the compromised match, emphasizing that the issue stems from a larger exploit within StarCraft 2‘s Arcade mode, rather than being specific to the map or its creator. Others have also reported similar experiences, accompanied by screenshots corroborating the incidents.
Reports indicate the types of exploits that are happening as the following:
- Displaying swastikas
- Epileptic screamer videos designed to trigger seizures through rapidly flashing images
These incidents of hackers hijacking maps and modes in Arcade have reportedly been occurring for at least a year, affecting numerous StarCraft 2 players.
Blizzard’s Response to the StarCraft 2 Security Breach
Blizzard has acknowledged the StarCraft 2 security breach. According to the company, they are aware of the situation and actively working to resolve the exploit. Here’s the company’s full statement:
“We are investigating a player claim that disturbing content that violates our policies appeared in a game. We take the safety of our players and our platform very seriously and are working to fix the exploit we believe might have been used to upload this content.”