The Untitled Goose Game that became a viral phenomenon right after its launch a month ago has been vulnerable to hacking, according to a report from a security researcher.
The wildly popular game allows players to stir shit up in a quaint British town. The whole point is to be an arsehole—from snatching up eyeglasses in your beak to honking at the perfect moment and making a groundskeeper hammer his own thumb. The appeal of the game hinges on the undeniable fact that geese are jerks and deep down, we all want to be jerks to strangers. It’s cathartic. Honk!
Since Australian developer House House released the game on September 20, it has inspired countless memes and allowed thousands of people to unleash their inner jackass goose. More than 100,000 copies of the game were reportedly sold within the first two weeks, and it topped Nintendo sales charts in the U.S., United Kingdom and Australia.
But the myriad of people who played the game were reportedly left exposed to a code execution vulnerability that potentially allowed hackers to hide malicious code inside game save files so they could run software without the user’s authorisation, according to the findings of Pulse Security consultant Denis Andzakovic.
House House did not immediately respond to a Gizmodo request for comment.
A timeline shared by Pulse Security states that the firm informed House House of the vulnerability on October 7. House House acknowledged the advisory two days later and told Pulse on October 22 it had released a patch. So if you’ve been simulating the experience of being a mischievous goose, it’s a good idea to update your shit before someone uninvited crashes the party.
This exploit only adds an extra dimension of authenticity to the game. If the goose in the game were real and could use a keyboard, it would definitely make the dick move of hacking the Untitled Goose Game. Honk!