The Difference Games Leak Gave Hackers 22,788 Ready-to-Use Passwords

HEROIC analysts identified a database leak tied to Difference Games (differencegames.com), a now-defunct puzzle game website. The breach is dated February 1, 2016, and exposed 22,788 records, containing email addresses and passwords stored in plaintext, with no hashing or encryption applied.

Why Plaintext Storage Makes This Breach Worse

Plaintext password storage is one of the least secure ways a website can handle user credentials. There's no cracking, no cost, and no delay for an attacker. The exact password each person typed in is sitting right there in the data, ready to be used the moment someone gets access to it.

What Was Exposed in the Difference Games Database

• Email addresses
• Passwords (stored in plaintext)

Why This Matters Even for a Defunct Gaming Site

Difference Games itself may no longer be running, but the credentials from this breach don't expire with the company. If any of these 22,788 people reused their password on an account they still use today, that reused password is immediately usable for credential stuffing, where attackers automatically try the same email and password combination across other websites until one works.

How a Plaintext Database Breach Happens

This incident is recorded as a database breach. When a site stores passwords in plaintext, it means no basic hashing protections were ever put in place, so a single vulnerability or misconfiguration that lets an attacker into the database hands over fully readable passwords immediately, not encoded values that require cracking. It's one of the most damaging ways a breach like this can play out.

Check If You Are Affected

If you ever had an account on an old gaming or puzzle site and reused your password, it's worth checking your exposure now. HEROIC's free breach scanner checks your email against more than 400 billion leaked records, so you can find out quickly and update any passwords still in use.