Fortnite isn’t leaking your emails, passwords, or any other non-public information
Earlier today, pros alleged that hackers were gaining access to their non-public Epic account information. The rumors started circulating after Built By Gamers pro player YungCalc tweeted a warning to his fellow peers
every pro player needs to turn this off no questions asked pic.twitter.com/ORYSi0V6Qw
— yung calculator (@yungcalc) January 22, 2021
YungCalc urged everyone on his timeline to disable “Show On Career Leaderboard” in the settings menu. He stressed that keeping this setting enabled left you exposed to hackers
In a short video, YungCalc explained that hackers were able to access your Epic linked email through your public stats
. @EpicGames fix it pic.twitter.com/A8vbrNXWbz
— yung calculator (@yungcalc) January 22, 2021
That was just the beginning of the problem for Epic, according to him. With the email, YungCalc concluded that anyone can request a password reset using your account email and temporarily boot you off your session
Obviously this would have grave implications for the competitive scene. Popular players would get hit off 24/7 -- especially during intense tournament situations
But there are a few problems with this…
First, if you turn off Career Leaderboard stats, we won’t be able to track your games
Second -- and more importantly -- your information wasn't being leaked.
Fortnite’s status account followed up to the inquiry and denied that anyone could access non-public information
We investigated reports that leaderboards were divulging non-public information or causing unauthorized logouts.
— Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) January 22, 2021
This is not the case.
We are certain that affected accounts remain secure, player info (incl. email addresses) isn't being divulged & any logout issue is resolved.
While there was never a problem with leaking private information, Epic wasn’t clear as to whether or not they had to push an update to fix the malicious logouts that players were reporting
Either way, everything looks to be working as intended. Your information is secure and you shouldn’t panic if your favorite pro is alleging otherwise
Hopefully this PSA soothes any of your fears. Follow us on Twitter to keep up-to-date on any and all developments in the competitive space