Cybersecurity

Twitch hack allegedly includes source code and earnings for streamers

Online video game streaming service Twitch suffered a hack on Wednesday that leaked sources codes, user payouts and earnings for streamers, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The hacker who posted the Twitch data onto 4Chan said they did it to hurt the platform’s business, citing the “toxic” gaming community. 

“Their community is also a disgusting toxic cesspool, so to foster more disruption and competition in the online video streaming space, we have completely pwned them,” the hacker said in an online chat post. 

The hacker also noted Amazon’s ownership of the streaming service, posting a picture of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s face in their message. 

“Jeff Bezos paid $970 million for this, we’re giving it away FOR FREE,” the user wrote. “#DoBetterTwitch.”

Amazon bought Twitch, then known as Justin.tv, for $970 million in cash in 2014, the Journal reported. 

According to its own data, Twitch averages more than 2.5 billion viewers daily, with more than 7 million users live-streaming video on the platform each month. 

Electronic Arts and Polish game developer CD Projekt SA have also reported hacks this year. 

“We can confirm a breach has taken place. Our teams are working with urgency to understand the extent of this. We will update the community as soon as additional information is available,” Twitch said. “Thank you for bearing with us.”

The Hill has reached out to Amazon and Twitch for more information.