Meccha Chameleon Official Discord Server Restored After Hijacking, All Hackers Banned
The swift restoration and transparent communication from a small indie team, alongside the confirmation that the game itself was not compromised, sets a benchmark for how developers can handle sophisticated Steam game hacking attacks without losing player trust.
Key Facts
- Meccha Chameleon is a multiplayer hide-and-seek game released on June 10.
- The game had sold over 15 million units as of July 5.
- The official Discord server was hijacked on July 26 after a system engineer's PC was infected with malware while verifying a mod map.
- The server was restored on July 27, with all hackers banned and the highest authority account changed.
- Version 3.1.0 of the game includes a fix that prevents malware execution in all mod maps.
Reporting from 2 sources: Denfaminicogamer, Automaton.
The official Discord server for the multiplayer hide-and-seek game Meccha Chameleon has been restored after a hijacking incident, developer LEMORION announced on July 27. All hackers who had gained administrator privileges on the server have been banned. The incident began when a system engineer's PC was infected with malware while verifying a mod map that had been reported to contain malicious code. The malware bypassed Discord's two-factor authentication and hijacked the server creator's account, expelling all official staff and making the server inoperable from the management side. LEMORION stated that the infected PC was not a development environment, so the game itself does not contain malware. The developer contacted Discord support, and Discord's official X account responded that it was investigating. On July 26, LEMORION reported that the hijacking issue was almost resolved and the server was expected to be restored within 48 hours. The restoration was completed the following morning. The server's highest authority account has been changed to a different account from the one that was hijacked. The game also received an update adding a new character, Fukuyoka. Meccha Chameleon was released on June 10 and has sold over 15 million units as of July 5.
Developers LEMORION and HAGANEIRO said the malware incident began when a system engineer verified a mod map that had been reported to contain malicious code. HAGANEIRO explained the process: "Malware was reported, but to verify a map that was reported to have no actual harm, we used it in-game, confirmed the reported arbitrary code execution, then tried again with a patched version and confirmed the countermeasure was effective." After that, safety measures were implemented for mod maps, and Steam support confirmed they were safe.
Version 3.1.0 of the game includes a fix that makes it impossible to execute malware in all mod maps. Co-creator HAGANEIRO published details of countermeasures, including restricting URLs that can be executed in mod maps and rejecting the generation of executable files. LEMORION stated that "there is no problem using MOD maps now."
The new character Fukuyoka, added in the same update, features a plump, full body. The developers noted that while it may stand out due to its larger size, a perfect hiding spot might be found. Meccha Chameleon is available for PC via Steam.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.