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Freedom251 › Blog › Canada

Have Canadian Game Studios Been Hacked? What the Public Evidence Shows

By Freedom251 Team · · 4 min read

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Yes. Canadian developer Red Barrels disclosed a 2024 cybersecurity incident that affected internal IT systems and some data, and said the incident significantly disrupted production. That establishes real exposure—not that Canadian game studios are uniquely or disproportionately targeted. The available public evidence does not establish how Red Barrels was first accessed or exactly what data was involved.

What happened at Red Barrels?

In a statement published October 2, 2024, the Montreal-based studio said a cybersecurity event affected its internal IT systems and involved access to some data. Red Barrels said it contained the event after investigating and that players were not impacted. That player-impact statement is the studio’s reported finding, not independent proof about every possible exposure. Red Barrels’ statement

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The clearest confirmed consequence was to development: the studio said, “The hit on our production timeline has been significant,” and warned that some planned content would be delayed. An interruption to internal systems can affect a game’s schedule even when a studio reports no impact to players.

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Red Barrels did not publicly specify the initial access method or precisely which data was accessed. Its statement does not establish ransomware, confirmed data exfiltration, or theft of source code or player records. Those claims should not be inferred from the fact that a cyber incident occurred.

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How does that compare with Ubisoft’s incidents?

Ubisoft is a French company with Canadian studios. Its confirmed 2022 incident was a company-level disclosure; it is not evidence that a Canadian Ubisoft studio was specifically breached. A separate 2023 report concerned claims the company was investigating, not a confirmed incident with established details.

Incident Evidence and affected areas Player-data statement Reported consequence
Red Barrels, 2024 Direct company disclosure: internal IT systems were affected and some data was accessed. The studio said players were not impacted. Significant production-timeline impact; some planned content would be delayed.
Ubisoft, March 2022 Direct company disclosure: some games, systems, and services were temporarily disrupted. Ubisoft said it had no evidence that player personal information was accessed or exposed. Temporary disruption and a company-wide password reset.
Ubisoft, December 2023 Media reported that Ubisoft was investigating claims of an intrusion. The reported claims were allegations, not confirmed findings. Not established by the cited report. Not established by the cited report.

Ubisoft’s March 2022 statement, reported by BleepingComputer, said: “Last week, Ubisoft experienced a cyber security incident that caused temporary disruption to some of our games, systems, and services.” The company also said there was no evidence player personal information was accessed or exposed, and reset employee passwords as a precaution.

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For the later episode, The Record’s December 22, 2023 report described claims Ubisoft was examining. Alleged access or attacker claims should not be presented as verified facts.

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Why can a game studio be exposed to cyber incidents?

A studio may rely on internal development systems, collaboration tools, unreleased creative work, online services, and player-facing systems. These are plausible areas of exposure for a game business, not a list of assets known to have been accessed in either incident above. Red Barrels’ disclosure illustrates that disruption to internal technology can have production consequences.

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Threats are not limited to one kind of attacker or one outcome. The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security describes ransomware actors targeting Canadian organizations as financially motivated and opportunistic. It also explains that ransomware-as-a-service can lower technical barriers and that initial-access brokers can make attacks more efficient. This national assessment does not identify the method, motive, or attacker behind either named incident.

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What do the Canadian figures say—and not say?

The Cyber Centre’s 2025 Ransomware Threat Outlook 2025–2027 provides context about Canadian organizations generally. Its figures are not game-industry rates:

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  • The Centre’s records show an average 26% year-over-year increase in ransomware incidents known to it from 2021 to 2024. The report describes this as an estimate based on its chart; it is not a prediction that incidents would rise by 26% in 2025.
  • In survey data covering 2023, published in October 2024, 13% of businesses reporting cybersecurity incidents identified ransomware as the attack method.
  • For 2023, total recovery costs associated with cybersecurity incidents were CAD 1.2 billion—double the previous reported total. This is a broad Canadian business figure, not an estimate of costs at game studios.

The outlook notes that incidents are underreported. These national statistics establish broader risk and cost, but they cannot show whether Canadian game studios face a higher risk than other sectors.

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What should a studio or player take away?

For studios, the practical lesson is to treat operational resilience as part of security: an incident affecting internal systems can delay production, while a separate event could affect services or personal information. The Cyber Centre’s organizational guidance emphasizes prevention, stating: “Basic cyber security practices would prevent the vast majority of ransomware incidents in Canada.” See its ransomware guidance for Canadian organizations. That general advice is not a guarantee against every attack.

For players, distinguish a confirmed incident from a claim, and distinguish system disruption from confirmed exposure of personal information. In the Red Barrels and Ubisoft 2022 disclosures, the companies said players were not affected or that there was no evidence player personal information was accessed, respectively. Those are attributed company findings; they do not establish what happened in unrelated incidents.

What the headline claim gets wrong

There is evidence that a Canadian game developer experienced a cybersecurity incident with a significant production impact. There is also a confirmed Ubisoft incident, but it should not be mislabeled as a breach of a Canadian site. The cited examples do not establish that game studios in Canada are “prime” or disproportionately targeted: no comparative sector evidence is provided. A defensible conclusion is that game companies have meaningful operational exposure and that documented incidents deserve attention, without claiming a sector ranking the evidence cannot support.

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CanadacybersecurityData BreachesGamingRed BarrelsUbisoft

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