Shantae Developer WayForward Suffers Data Breach, Report Says

Shantae Half Genie Hero

As first reported by BNN, WayForward Technologies has suffered a massive data breach, causing various game prototypes and source codes to leak online.

WayForward is the esteemed developer behind the Shantae series. It includes classic platformers that first appeared on the Game Boy Color.

More recently, WayForward published games like Lunark and Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, which released last year.

In a recent post, Twitter user Lance McDonald claimed that WayForward’s data was found on a discarded hard drive.

WayForward Technologies has not issued an official statement regarding the breach at this time.

Although fans are surely excited to uncover leaks about WayForward content, source codes could prove extremely damaging.

If the leaks were indeed the result of a discarded hard drive, the breach marks another facet of major security concerns in the industry.

In December 2023, a ransomware group leaked over a million files of Insomniac Games data. Rockstar Games also suffered a major GTA 6 leak, which still seems to rattle the studio.

Just last week, Rockstar requested that employees return to work at the office, citing security concerns. Rockstar employees and the IWGB union later criticized the mandate to return to in-person work.

An alleged ransomware gang also recently claimed they hacked Epic Games, although they recently admitted it was a lie. Security is such a major concern in the industry, it seems easier to lie about it these days.

The next game in the Shantae series will be Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution. Last week, WayForward announced that fans can pre-order the game on an actual GBA-compatible cartridge through April 7th.

Hopefully, the data breach does not affect WayForward’s plans for future titles and development. However, certain projects may still be delayed or compromised.


For more of the latest Insider Gaming news, you can read about Bit Reactor confirming that its Star Wars strategy game is still in development.