Riot Games, the California-based gaming giant, has announced that it has been the victim of a debilitating social engineering attack, shutting down its entire development department. The company, known for developing, publishing, and e-tournaments, posted the announcement on Twitter for its 2.7 million followers late Friday.
In the statement, Riot Games said the attack, which took place earlier this week, had “compromised systems in our development environment.
” The company, which lists over 4,500 employees, or “Rioters,” located throughout more than 20 offices worldwide, reassured followers that player data and personal information had not been compromised in the attack.
However, the company did warn that the attack had temporarily affected its ability to release new content and that regular patching would most likely be affected across multiple games. Riot Games tweeted its fans to be patient as the investigation continues, and there is no information on where or how the attack originated.
A social engineering attack is a method used by cybercriminals to trick users into performing a behavior based on deceptive tactics, such as opening a fake email or clicking on a malicious link. Social engineering attacks often rely on catching the user off guard and can also happen in-person or over the phone, such as an attacker pretending to be someone he is not to obtain sensitive information.
Riot Games’ most popular gaming franchises include League of Legends, Valorant, Legends of Runeterra, and Teamfight Tactics. The company’s website states that League of Legends is the most-played PC game in the world and a key driver of the explosive growth of esports.
