Update: The Marvel’s Avengers Twitter account has announced they are testing a solution to the issue of personal information (your IP) being shown while playing the game. A hotfix is planned to be released tomorrow for the PS5 version.
We are currently testing a solution to the issue of personal information, including the player's IP address and username, being displayed on screen on PS5 and plan to deploy a hotfix tomorrow at around 8AM PT.
— Marvel's Avengers (@PlayAvengers) June 22, 2021
Until then, don’t stream the PS5 or any other versions until the fixes are in place.
Original story below:
Anyone knows the dangers of showing or providing your IP address across the internet. This string of numbers can give off your location and result in many nasty things happening to you – otherwise known as Doxxing. So, can anyone tell me (and everyone else) why Square Enix’s and Crystal Dynamics Marvel’s Avengers are now showing our IP addresses?
Yep, you heard me. The game is now providing everyone who can see your game your IP address. This is something Twitter user Cyael confirmed not too long ago was happening. Sadly, Cyael happened to be streaming the game, which allowed anyone in the stream to see their IP address. That right there is damaging stuff, and this recently started happening after the recent update, patch 1.8.0, was released today.
Forbe’s own Paul Tassi has confirmed this on his end and verified that the game is indeed showing off the player’s IP address.
Crystal Dynamics just doxxed me showing my IP on stream in game
— Cyael (@Cyael) June 22, 2021
Uhhh can confirm Avengers is showing people’s IP addresses ON SCREEN as of this patch, I can see my own https://t.co/MLThi2V7lx
— Paul Tassi (@PaulTassi) June 22, 2021
Being one who likes to confirm things on my own, I reinstalled the game to verify on my end. Yep, I can see an IP address on the screen. That’s definitely not good.
The official Marvel Avenger’s Twitter account provided a statement regarding this, claiming, “We’re aware of the issue where a floating string of text appears on the screen and are investigating.”.
Patch 1.8.0 is being published today and includes the Cosmic Cube Event among other improvements.
☑️ Beating the Odds
☑️ Cosmic Threat Event begins June 24
☑️ Reduce Mega Hives from 8 to 4 steps
☑️ …and more!Patch Notes – https://t.co/ExBoX3WlSb pic.twitter.com/tC0RjlSKXH
— Marvel's Avengers (@PlayAvengers) June 22, 2021
However, I don’t think they understand just how bad this is. An IP address is not a string of characters. Anytime you’re showing anyone’s IP address to the public, that opens up a lot of nasty stuff. At the very least, they can launch a DDoS attack against that IP and stop them from doing anything on the internet, to digging into who that IP is leased to and doing a lot more damage. Obviously, this is a bug and was not intended. However, it goes without saying it needs to be fixed, and I wouldn’t recommend anyone to stream the game in the correct state that it is in. Seriously, don’t stream this game, or you could be opening yourself up to trouble.
I’d imagine Crystal Dynamics is scrambling to address this issue and will likely revert the update or release a hotfix sooner than later.
Marvel Avengers is currently available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
