Dark Souls 3’s popularity may not have been as high as its two predecessors’ or the GOTY spin-off(s) that followed. Nonetheless, it features the same epic tale and mechanical depth and refinement for which FromSoftware is known. Unfortunately, a hazardous exploit is circulating, causing players to lose entire control of their computers. The Dark Souls 3 servers are now unavailable as the development team works to ensure multiplayer security.
According to NME, yesterday (January 23), the official Dark Souls Twitter account posted an announcement (see above) detailing the troubling situation and what actions are being taken to quell the issue. The Tweet reads as follows:”PvP servers for Dark Souls 3, Dark Souls 2, and Dark Souls: Remastered have been temporarily deactivated to allow the team to investigate recent reports of an issue with online services. Servers for Dark Souls: PtDE will join them shortly. We apologize for this inconvenience.”
A follow-up Tweet mentions that this problem is entirely absent from PvP console servers, so Xbox and PlayStation owners have nothing to worry about and were spared the shutdown. NME would go on to state that the exploit, otherwise known as the Remote Code Execution (RCE) hack, allows attackers to “execute arbitrary code on a remote device, meaning they can take control of a player’s PC.” It appears as if only a tiny percentage of players know how to employ the hack, so the likelihood of being affected is relatively low. However, PC players are still at risk every time they engage with Dark Souls 3’s multiplayer components, so the decision to deactivate PvP seems appropriate.