In June, hackers reportedly broke into Electronic Arts' data servers and took the full source code for the Frostbite Engine used in EA shooters, including "FIFA 21" and the upcoming "Battlefield 2042. Shortly thereafter, a new Vice was launched. Shortly thereafter, according to a new Vice report, they tried unsuccessfully to extort the publisher.

"A few weeks ago, we sent an email to EA demanding a ransom, but received no response, so we are releasing the source." If they don't contact us or pay us we will keep it posted."

Motherboard, Vice's technical section, reported seeing a copy of the 1.3 GB cache released by the hacker. Despite the escalation, Electronic Arts made it clear that they have no intention of playing around.

"We are aware of recent postings by alleged hackers and are in the process of analyzing the published files. At this time, the files do not contain any data that would threaten player privacy, and we have no reason to believe that our games, business, or players are at significant risk." We continue to cooperate with federal law enforcement authorities as part of our ongoing criminal investigation."

The situation is very similar to the attack on CD Projekt earlier this year in which the source code for games including Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3 and Gwent were stolen. In response to the ransom demand, CD Projekt stated that it would not give in to the demand or negotiate, at which point the hackers began releasing the stolen data.

What makes this case unusual (and, to be completely honest, quite funny), however, is that after being ignored by EA for weeks, the data thieves attempted to get help from an unexpected third party.

"The hackers asked Motherboard to deliver an extortion message directly to EA on their behalf. Motherboard refused."