Hackers have infiltrated EA and swiped several source codes and development tools, including the source code of FIFA 21 and its matchmaking server, and the code for the Frostbite engine. This powers games like Battlefield, Star Wars: Squadrons, and FIFA itself. In total, 780GB of data was stolen in the recent attack.
This was first discovered by Motherboard, the tech vertical for Vice, whose source had access to a private forum the hackers used to discuss the stolen code. EA confirmed to Motherboard that there had been a breach, in a statement reading, "We are investigating a recent incident of intrusion into our network where a limited amount of game source code and related tools were stolen."
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EA says no player data was stolen by the hackers, with the code relating specifically to the engine and internal tools. EA says there has been no privacy breach, but it has since increased security measures around Frostbite. EA also does not expect the attack to have a significant impact on any of its games, nor on its business overall.
Since the code relates to FIFA 21 rather than the upcoming FIFA 22, it's unlikely it contains any information related to the rumoured FIFA 22 online Career Mode addition. It also comes after EA announced that FIFA - specifically FIFA Ultimate Team - is responsible for up to a quarter of the company's total earnings.
The hackers appear to have stolen the data for financial gain, with the private forum being used as a marketplace for the hackers to sell it on to the highest bidder. It follows a massive data breach at CD Projket Red, where significantly more code was hacked.
In CD Projekt Red's case, the hackers made off with data relating to both The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, including a Cyberpunk 2077 bugreel that was only intended to be shared internally and evidence that the developers labelled censorship relating to the Chinese version of the game with the tag 'Winnie the Pooh', in reference to the banned meme.