PSA: Update Windows 10 Right Now, NSA Posts Critical Vulnerability


You know a security issue is going to be a big problem when the National Security Agency is posting an APB for people to update their computers as soon as possible.

The United States Department of Defense has issued a critical security warning advising users of Windows 10 to ensure that their operating systems are up to date. The NSA identified a vulnerability that will allow malicious software to be installed on a machine by fooling Windows into thinking that it is an official update. The most up to date versions of Windows have allegedly patched this bug, and the department warns that it expects exploits to start cropping up in the very near future.

NSA has discovered a critical vulnerability (CVE-2020-0601) affecting Microsoft Windows®1 cryptographic functionality. The certificate validation vulnerability allows an attacker to undermine how Windows verifies cryptographic trust and can enable remote code execution. The vulnerability affects Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016/2019 as well as applications that rely on Windows for trust functionality. Exploitation of the vulnerability allows attackers to defeat trusted network connections and deliver executable code while appearing as legitimately trusted entities. Examples where validation of trust may be impacted include:

  • HTTPS connections
  • Signed files and emails
  • Signed executable code launched as user-mode processes

The vulnerability places Windows endpoints at risk to a broad range of exploitation vectors. NSA assesses the vulnerability to be severe and that sophisticated cyber actors will understand the underlying flaw very quickly and, if exploited, would render the previously mentioned platforms as fundamentally vulnerable. The consequences of not patching the vulnerability are severe and widespread. Remote exploitation tools will likely be made quickly and widely available. Rapid adoption of the patch is the only known mitigation at this time and should be the primary focus for all network owners.

Source: NSA

Jagex Hiring For Unreal Engine Title


Jagex is hiring for a new IP, one that appears to be built on the Unreal Engine.

A job listing on Jagex’s corporate website lists New IP hiring a number of positions including game director, product director, senior roles, as well as a lead environment artist. The job listings don’t give a whole lot of hints on what this game might be, however the job listings do make several mentions to knowledge of the Unreal engine including a position for a gameplay programmer that requires Unreal Engine experience as well as experience in networked and MMO games.

Jagex’s next game is up in the air as the company has started and halted development on new titles numerous times in the past (see MechScape, Stellar Dawn, and other vaguely referenced games), but it appears that they are at least in the planning stages of an MMO built on Unreal Engine 4. We’ll see if this one happens to get close enough to release that Jagex gives it a name.

RuneScape Celebrates All-Time High Membership In 2019


Everything’s coming up Glouphrie in RuneScape for 2019.

As RuneScape enters its twentieth year of existence, Jagex is celebrating a successful 2019. RuneScape as a franchise enjoyed the highest membership count of all time with well over a million subscribers while Old School RuneScape achieved its highest daily active players thanks in part to a launch on mobile that has drawn in over 8 million installs, and was also awarded a BAFTA for mobile game of the year and best mobile game at the Develop Star Awards.

In 2019 Jagex hired over 100 new employees as part of a big hiring drive including former EA Development Director Melissa Bachman-Wood joining as VP of Studios, Product Director at Blizzard Entertainment Ryan Ward joining as Executive Producer of RuneScape, and Rob Hendry, previously Head of Studio London at Natural Motion, joining as Executive Producer of Old School RuneScape.

CEO Phil Mansell, aka Mod Pips, stated:

“This level of success only comes with the passion of huge player communities, who engage with our games because of the amazing craft and care from our talented teams. It is thanks to these efforts that we’ve been able to greatly increase our investment in our existing games, new product development and the broader business with more than 100 new hires coming onboard in the last 12 months. This includes senior leaders joining from EA, Blizzard, Activision, Ubisoft, Riot and more, adding more than 250 years of cumulative games industry experience to the Jagex team.”

RuneScape raised over £250 grand in charity with Jagex being voted the Best Places To Work award by Gamesindustry.biz.

More details on RuneScape’s future will be released in the coming months.

Video: Hunter’s Arena: Legend Drops New Trailer


Hunter’s Arena promises all the content of an MMORPG in the span of a 30 minute match. From studio Mantisco, Hunter’s Arena might be the most confusing game pitch that I have seen in the past few years. It combines battle royale, MOBA, and action RPG in a game that sees 60 players and ten thousand monsters thrown into a battlefield and fighting for survival.

“Survive among 60 players and 10,000 monsters! Farming, Upgrading, Raiding, Dungeons and PvP action – try this MMORPG-like experience within just a 30 minutes game session! It’s not just a Battle Royale with an RPG combat system, it’s a full-scale RPG available in a Battle Royale mode. Utilize teamwork in party play and backstab your enemies!”

You can check out the trailer above and read up on Hunter’s Arena at the Steam link below.

Source: Steam, Press Release

Netmarble To Appoint Seungwon Lee As New Co-CEO


Netmarble today officially announced the nomination of Seungwon Lee, currently Chief Global Officer, as new co-CEO of the company. His official appointment is scheduled for next month, February 2020. Lee will share his position with Young-sig Kwon with Kwon taking care of game business while Lee focuses on overall management and global operations.

Lee, a graduate of Seoul National University and a Master of Business Administration at INSEAD, previously served as Head of Korea Marketing for Yahoo from 2005 to 2006. Since 2007, he served as Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Netmarble Games (formerly CJ Internet) and as Senior Vice President of Global Strategy at Netmarble Games (formerly CJ ENM Game Division). As Chief Global Officer, Lee has been leading Netmarble’s overall global business since 2014, contributing to Netmarble’s successful expansion to global market.

Source: Press Release

Steam Cleaned: Cyber Watch Dev Manipulates Review Scores To Counter Mine


Update 1/17/20: Cyber Watch is still up to its shadiness. Another positive review from a user who created their account on January 15 expressly to play Cyber Watch and nothing else and leave a positive review within 24 hours of creating their account.

In addition, our friend kaushikarathi7 has changed their name and moved from India to Germany.

Original Story:

Cyber Watch’s developer is dumb, they are really dumb, for real. And they just made a fatal mistake.

Cyber Watch is a low quality Unreal shooter that I chatted about just a day or so ago, and I went back on the Steam page today because I wanted to see if anyone else got duped into buying the game and left a review. What I found was even better, three positive reviews two of which contain snarky references to my commentary on the game. Even better, they all come from relatively new accounts with one product. Let’s dive in.

The first review is by a user named bhadana9474, a new account that owns one game and hails from Uttar Pradesh, India which also happens to house Cyber Watch’s developer. Keshav Bhadana, where have I heard that name before? Oh right, he’s listed as a developer for Cyber Watch. I like how he references the developer’s inexperience as “from what I can tell,” as though he only has second hand experience and isn’t actively working on the title.

Now let’s look at review #2:

Another account that only owns one game from Uttar Pradesh, India. What are the odds! Ashish Chaudhary…where have I heard that name before? Okay you know where this is going, Ashish is also a credited developer on Cyber Watch.

Oh my lord, a third account that only owns one game and hails from Uttar Pradesh, India. WHAT ARE THE ODDS? 100% evidently. Kaushika Rathi, where have I heard that name before? Actually this is one is a trick since there is no Kaushika Rathi listed in the developer section. There is however a Kartikay Rathi. Related to the developer? Boy it would be a hell of a coincidence if someone named Rathi from the same area of India just happened to set up a Steam account, only buy Cyber Watch, and leave a positive review within the same time span as the actual developers and after playing ten minutes.

I was born on a day and that day wasn’t yesterday.

Review manipulation is of course grounds for immediate termination, and the attempt to manipulate Cyber Watch’s review score is just as poorly thought out as the game itself. All images referenced above have been archived in order to keep the data sealed fresh for your enjoyment.

Source: Archive, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7

Video: Valiance Online’s Latest Gameplay Showcase


Valiance Online is still in active development, and this week the folks at Silverhelm Studios released a new video showing off the Skyeline City walkthrough. The video is just a walkthrough of the city and doesn’t feature much else.

For more details on Valiance Online, check out the official website.

Ubisoft Enters Auto Chess Arena With Might & Magic: Chess Royale


This is a thing.

Ubisoft today announced the next title in the Might & Magic franchise will take on not one but two gaming trends. Might & Magic: Chess Royale is an auto chess title with battle royale leanings. The core gameplay is tied into the auto chess genre, a round-based strategy game where players select from a pool of characters that automatically battle it out in waves against mobs or other players, with the ultimate goal being to level up your units and outlast the other players.

Might & Magic’s spin on the genre is to merge the auto chess with battle royale and run matches with up to 100 players as opposed to the standard 8 person matches in other similar titles. Might & Magic: Chess Royale will be available on PC and mobile devices on January 30. Pre-registration is now available. We are assuming that the game will be free to play with microtransactions.

Source: Ubisoft

Red Dead Online: Free Roam Events This Week


Red Dead Online has a whole bunch of stuff going on this week for players to take part in including xp bonuses, the latest free aim series, and free roam events for Rank 4 bounty hunters. Bounty Hunters, Traders, and Collectors of at least rank 4 will receive a 25% boost to experience gained while taking part in any rank-specific free roam event in Red Dead Online this week while players of all stripes will be able to redeem a 2,000 experience bonus for each of the specialist roles while completing role activities.

This week’s showcased competitive mode is Last Stand. Just as it sounds, Last Stand pits players against one another in a free-for-all with only one left standing, available for play in the featured showcase. In addition all rifles available via local gunsmiths or the Wheeler catalogue are 30% off. Playstation Plus members can receive a free colorway of the Leavitt Jacket while Twitch Prime members can redeem the polished copper still upgrade, collector’s bag, an extra 10% discount game-wide, and extra gold bars on purchase. Cost for the butcher table, bounty hunter license, and collector’s bag have been discounted five gold bars this week as well.

Source: Rockstar Press Release

IPE Update: ArcheAge Settlement Terms Emerge With $420k Payout


With the motion for final approval of settlement details scheduled for April 17, it will have been four and a half years since the lawsuit over ArcheAge’s launch and boy has a lot happened in that time frame including the death of Trion Worlds as a corporate entity. Back in August we talked about how the lawsuit was finally coming to a close, owing mostly to the fact that the defense was being funded by the liability pool of Trion’s insurance company which would also be handling the payout, meaning the longer the lawsuit went without agreement on a settlement the less money would actually be available for the aggrieved parties.

Trion’s insurer has set aside an amount that while high isn’t exactly great. $420 grand for parties to make claims. You have until March 13, 2020 to make a claim, do nothing, opt out of the settlement, or object to the terms. Thankfully you don’t even have to do any receipt checking, as the website will let you submit your username or email associated with the Trion Worlds account and will calculate your eligible credits directly.

Payout of course is tied to the number of people submitting claims, so the more people who claim the lesser the individual payout will be. We’ll check in when the settlement is approved and payouts start going out to see what kind of compensation people are receiving.

Source: ArcheAge Settlement via MassivelyOP