Hello Neighbor’s multiplayer spinoff has been ‘temporarily shut down’ after a hacker wiped player progression and demanded the game’s ‘removal from sale across all platforms’

Secret Neighbor, the multiplayer spinoff for the 2017 horror game Hello Neighbor, has been temporarily taken offline following a security breach by a hacker who accessed the game’s backend systems and deleted player data.

The incident, which occurred last week, involved an individual who obtained credentials with admin access to the game. The hacker then proceeded to wipe player profiles, in-game progression, and other data, while also carrying out what developer Hologryph and publisher tinyBuild described as a “coordinated attack on our server systems and infrastructure” across all platforms.

Hologryph and tinyBuild addressed the situation in a Steam post, (via delistedgames). They explained that, in addition to the attack, the hacker had “stated they intend to continue targeting the game and its backend systems until the game is removed from sale across all platforms.”

According to both companies, no personal data or information had been compromised by the attack. Yet as the incident is ongoing, they have opted to “temporarily shut down the game until we had addressed the breach and closed any vulnerabilities that may have led to the incident.”

In its statement, Hologryph and tinyBuild say they have alerted the relevant authorities to the situation. They are also working with PlayFab—the company which provides Secret Neighbour’s backend services—in an attempt to recover the data that has been wiped.

As for when the issue is likely to be resolved, no timeframe has been provided. But Secret Neighbor remains on Steam and available to purchase. But Hologryph and tinyBuild say they will keep players updated “on our progress and how the situation unfolds going forwards.”

Secret Neighbor released back in 2019. The following year, tinyBuild invested $3 million into Hologryph, becoming a majority stakeholder in the company having acquired the original Hello Neighbour’s developer, Dynamic Pixels, a few months prior.

A sequel to Hello Neighbor was released in 2022, and a third game is apparently in development. The original Hello Neighbor is still going strong, too, having received its highest peak concurrent player-count in March this year.