Epic Games Offers $1M Reward for Evidence of Houseparty Hack

Epic Games is offering a $1 million reward to the first person who can prove that a commercial smear campaign targeted at Houseparty, a social network Epic owns, has been put together. Houseparty is a "face-to-face" social network that allows users to group video chat and play games together. Epic Games purchased Houseparty last year. Originally reported by the BBC, Houseparty believes it's under attack by a "paid commercial smear campaign" meant to harm the company. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=games-to-play-while-stuck-at-home&captions=true"] Wanting to discover if that's really the case, the company has offered a $1 million bounty to the first person to provide evidence that such a campaign is taking place.

We are investigating indications that the recent hacking rumors were spread by a paid commercial smear campaign to harm Houseparty. We are offering a $1,000,000 bounty for the first individual to provide proof of such a campaign to bounty@houseparty.com.

— Houseparty (@houseparty) March 31, 2020

This bounty for evidence comes after a a slew of online rumors that allege the Houseparty app exposes vulnerabilities to personal information found on other services like Netflix and Spotify. BBC reported that several Twitter users posted screenshots claiming to show that after downloading the Houseparty app, they were locked out of things like Netflix, Spotify, and personal bank accounts. The Houseparty app does not request access to personal information on your phone like you'd find after downloading something like Facebook, which requests access to your phone's microphone and camera. Epic Games has since released a statement on the matter declaring that no evidence has been found. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/25/how-coronavirus-is-impacting-the-games-industry"] "We've found no evidence to suggest a link between Houseparty and the compromises of other unrelated accounts," an Epic Games spokesperson told BBC. "As a general rule, we suggest all users choose strong passwords when creating online accounts on any platforms." Houseparty's popularity has risen with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising from an average of 130,000 downloads a week in February to two million a week in March, according to BBC. For more on Epic Games, read about how the Epic Games Store generated $680 million in its first year. Here are some ways to help others and stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

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