Earlier this week, CD Projekt Red announced that hackers had broken into its network and taken various internal documents and game source code. Instead, the studio went public, admitting that it "may eventually lead to the release of the infringed data," but declaring that it "will not give in to the demands and will not negotiate with the thieves."

Sure enough, that appears to be happening now. According to CyberNews, a "research-based online publication" dedicated to digital security, the source code for CD Projekt's card game "Gwent" was posted on a hacking site on February 10 under the heading "CDProject Leak #1." Links to the leak on sites including Mega.nz and 4chan are currently disabled, but the site has obtained a copy of the archive, which it says was taken on February 6, two days before CD Projekt Red "became aware" of the attack from the metadata.

The archive's title clearly suggests that there is more to come, as does the readme file found inside, warning that a second leak would occur the following day.

According to CD Projekt Red, the hackers were also able to encrypt several devices on its network, but the company was able to protect its IT infrastructure shortly after the attack and began restoring the locked data from backups.CyberNews reports that the author of the forum post linked to the leaked data had previously written about the open-source ransomware Cobalt Strike and other topics, indicating that he had the skills and tools necessary to mount a successful ransomware attack.

"This could mean that this group is very new and could grow rapidly after such high-value victims are compromised," Mella said.

"Many other young affiliates may join them after this, and CD Projekt is really popular and widely discussed among the underground and gaming communities.

Although known links to the leaked data have been disabled, Mella added that the archive has already been downloaded by many other people, some of whom are now trying to force their payment. One "threat actor," who was not the forum poster who published the initial leak, said that the source code for "The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt," "Throne Breaker," and "Cyberpunk 2077" will be available today, February 11. However, this information will apparently be auctioned off rather than leaked to an online archive, and those who want to participate in this action will need to deposit 0.1 bitcoin, according to the posting.

We have asked CD Projekt for comment on this report and will update if we hear back.

Thanks, VG247.