Insomniac Responds To Massive Hack Of Wolverine And Employee Data

Insomniac Games has broken its silence on the recent ransomware attack that resulted in hackers releasing confidential studio information, personal employee data, and an entire playable build of the upcoming PlayStation 5 exclusive, Wolverine. “We’re both saddened and angered about the recent criminal cyberattack on our studio and the emotional toll it’s taken on our team,” the Sony-owned studio wrote in a statement posted online on December 22.

A ransomware attack breached Insomniac’s systems on December 12 with the hacker group responsible, Rhysida, demanding $2 million to prevent the release of sensitive employee data, financial information, corporate planning documents, and development assets for upcoming games including Wolverine. After Sony seemingly declined to pay, over one terabyte of information was posted online, revealing everything from a licensing deal with Marvel for X-Men games to damaging credit card information.

“Thank you for the outpouring of compassion and support,” Insomniac wrote in its first statement since the data was released. “We’re both saddened and angered about the recent criminal cyberattack on our studio and the emotional toll it’s taken on our team. We have focused inwardly for several days to support each other.”

The studio continued:

We are aware that the stolen data includes personal information belonging to our employees, former employees, and independent contractors. It also includes early details about Marvel’s Wolverine for PS5. We continue working quickly to determine what data was impacted. This experience has been extremely distressing for us. We want everyone to enjoy the games we develop as intended. However, Insomniac is resilient. Marvel’s Wolverine continues as planned. The game is in production and will no doubt evolve throughout development, as do all our plans. We will share official information about Marvel’s Wolverine when the time is right. On behalf of everyone here, thank you for your ongoing support during this challenging time.

Sony has yet to comment more broadly on any specific actions it’s taking to help employees whose personal information was released, or the progress of any investigation into identifying the people responsible for it. The company does appear to be launching Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) claims against sites and users hosting assets for the unreleased games, including a seemingly very early but semi-playable build of Wolverine, which according to hacked documents seemed planned to release in 2026 at the earliest.

While materials released as part of the malicious hack point to an ambitious slate of upcoming Marvel games, including Spider-Man 3, X-Men, and a potential standalone Venom game, they also pointed to possible challenges Insomniac faces as it attempts to continue shipping high-quality single-player PlayStation exclusives even as development schedules and blockbuster game budgets keep expanding. Some of the hacked files even referenced possible layoffs at the studio amid wider cutbacks at Sony. Business plans are always subject to change, however.

Sony did not immediately respond to a request for comment.