Nokia’s Principal Engineer for Windows Phone 8, Justin Angel has detailed some disconcerting flaws within Windows Store games. This is especially worrying news for game developers as the hack eliminates their major source of revenue.
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Angel’s blog has step-by-step details on how others could potentially disable in-game purchasing, in-game advertising and in-app purchases.
The root problem discovered by Angel lies with the apps being stored in the local HD. From there, users can open the game’s code in a text editor and modify specific areas, ultimately limiting desired functionality such as the in-game points systems, trial versions of games and reducing the cost of in-game purchases.
The instructions are pretty in-depth and will be difficult for the average Windows 8 user to execute, but those skilled enough in coding and programming could have a field day with this new information. The motivation for the leaking of this information is still unclear.
Angel ends his banter with the explanation that this post is carried out in a personal capacity and his employer has no involvement. It does however seem rather strange that someone who is essentially employed to design systems around Windows Phone 8 content would disclose its greatest security risks.
Nonetheless this development will cause some major problems for all parties if it’s not handled immediately. Microsoft are yet to comment on the validity of Angel’s claims, but we’ll be sure to keep all readers of the Gear updated.
