After disappointing many folks with a rocky debut in December, The War Z is making negative headlines again. According to a notice plastered where its game forum used to reside, hackers have gained access to the company's message board and game databases, including the player data in those locations.
In its notification, the developer says compromised user data includes email addresses used for forum logins, encrypted forum passwords, emails and encrypted passwords for the game itself, as well as in-game character names and the IP addresses from which players access the forum and the game.
Any other information supplied on forum accounts was likely swiped too, though the company doesn't collect names or addresses. Also, while the developer is still investigating if anything else was taken, there's supposedly zero chance that the hackers touched players' financial information because all payments are made through a third party outfit.
While your credit card details may be safe, you should probably change the password(s) on affected War Z accounts and any other services that use the same email and password – especially your email account itself. The developer notes that internal research has revealed many players are using weak passwords that could potentially be cracked.
Experts have been brought in to help and have already plugged several holes the hackers used to gain access. As part of the ongoing investigation, both the forum and game servers have been taken offline and there's no word on when they'll be restored. Any extended downtime is bound to frustrate players and The War Z may not have many fans to spare.