Arc Raiders Faces Privacy Concerns Over Discord Integration

Players of the video game Arc Raiders, developed by Embark Studios, have raised concerns regarding a potential security breach linked to the game's integration with Discord. Computer engineer Timothy D. Meadows reported that private Discord Direct Messages (DMs) were being recorded in plaintext within local game log files on players' PCs. This issue arises when players connect their Discord accounts to Arc Raiders, leading to the storage of sensitive information, including Discord tokens and private messages.

ARC Raiders Players Open To Serious Security Breach, See If You're AffectedArc Raiders Was Recording Private Discord DMs

Meadows initially claimed that the Discord integration allowed for unauthorized message sending on behalf of users, but later corrected this assertion. He clarified that the permissions associated with the Discord SDK only allowed changes to voice settings, not message sending. However, he emphasized that private conversations could still be logged and potentially accessed by third parties if they had access to the log files stored in "C:\Users\\AppData\Local\PioneerGame\Saved\Logs." Meadows warned that these log files could be included in crash reports or bug uploads, further exposing private conversations.

ARC Raiders Players Open To Serious Security Breach, See If You're AffectedArc Raiders Was Recording Private Discord DMs

In light of these findings, Embark Studios acknowledged the issue and released a hotfix to address the excessive logging of user information. The company assured players that their personal data had not been sent outside their machines and that no information was reviewed or stored externally. Embark stated, “Rest assured that your private and/or personal data was not sent outside your machine and Embark has not (and will not) review or keep such information.” They also announced plans for a comprehensive audit to prevent similar incidents in the future.

ARC Raiders Players Open To Serious Security Breach, See If You're Affected

Despite Embark's assurances, the situation has raised significant privacy concerns among players. Meadows had previously alerted the studio about the issue a month before going public, indicating a lack of timely response from the developers. In light of the breach, players are advised to disconnect Discord support while playing Arc Raiders to mitigate any risks associated with the integration.

ARC Raiders Players Open To Serious Security Breach, See If You're Affected

Following the release of the hotfix, players are encouraged to restart their games and refresh their Discord clients to ensure the update takes effect. Embark Studios continues to monitor the situation and is committed to enhancing the security of its game and protecting user data.

ARC Raiders Players Open To Serious Security Breach, See If You're Affected

• “Any private conversation received while the game is running is written to disk. Log files may be included in crash reports or bug report uploads. Log files may be accessible to other applications on the same machine. Third parties with access to the machine or crash reports can read private conversations” — Timothy D. Meadows, Computer Engineer

ARC Raiders Players Open To Serious Security Breach, See If You're Affected

• “Rest assured that your private and/or personal data was not sent outside your machine and Embark has not (and will not) review or keep such information.” — Embark Studios, Official Statement

ARC Raiders Players Open To Serious Security Breach, See If You're Affected