Do you like to dabble on the public servers of Bethesda's Fallout 76 title? Well, it might be best to avoid it over the Christmas period as a new hack appears to have surfaced which could allow the hacker to steal all of your hard-earned goods.
The news comes from Reddit (Thanks, DSOGaming!) where a user (a mod on the sub-Reddit) reports that PC versions of the game are at risk of losing their inventory items. While it's said that the hack is already common knowledge for the community, the post clarifies some specifics surrounding the hack itself.
Apparently, items stored away in the stash box/scrap box are safe, but items within the player's inventory are not. This includes weapons and armor along with other inventory items. The hack targets PC users playing on public servers. There is no way of telling what player on the server is using the hack, but it is known that it's a remote hack. This means that it only requires the hacker to be within the rendering distance of the victim in order to nick all of their items.
At current, there is no fix for the hack except to play the game on private servers which are exclusive to those with the Fallout 1st subscription. The service was met with a great deal of backlash earlier this year.
While the mods of the sub-Reddit have no control over the game or support, they do urge players to report any incidents with hacking to Bethesda. That's if you're feeling brave and want to wander the public servers, risking all your hard-earned loot.
One user on Reddit states they reached out to Bethesda and got a reply, "Please be aware that due to tool limitations Customer Support is unable to restore lost items." While it sounds a bit rough, the hack seems to be fairly new so Bethesda would no doubt need to investigate further, plus it's the holidays. Players have been taking to the Reddit post to confirm they've fallen victim to the hack, so it's certainly in action.
Additionally, one user posted a YouTube video showing the hack in action...er, ignore the thumbnail.
What a wonderful Christmas present for those who might be getting Fallout 76 on PC this year. I'd certainly suggest steering clear from the games public PC servers for now and wait for an official update from Bethesda to confirm they've killed the hack. It'll be nice if this opens up the game to have private servers available freely rather than locking them behind a paywall.