Marvel's Avengers is exposing streamer IP addresses after new update

Crystal Dynamics has issued a warning against streaming Marvel's Avengers gameplay, as it appears that the 1.8.0 patch released today is causing the PlayStation 5 version of the game to reveal player IP addresses to viewers.

Shortly after the patch went live, Crystal Dynamics said that it was investigating an issue causing "a floating string of text" to appear on players' screens. Nearly an hour later, the studio asked users to "refrain from streaming for now if you're experiencing this issue."

Crystal Dynamics did not specify what the text in question is, but multiple Twitter users did: It was IP addresses belonging to streamers. Needless to say, they were not happy about it. Forbes confirmed the claims that Marvel's Avengers is in fact displaying IP addresses at the bottom of players' screens.

Revealing IP addresses is a major violation of privacy. As we said in this guide to using VPNs, your PC's IP address "is a digital fingerprint that identifies you on the internet." IP addresses can be used to target DDoS attacks, or even to track physical location, a potentially serious problem at a time when streamers regularly face threats and swattings.

A couple hours after the initial tweet, Crystal Dynamics confirmed that Marvel's Avengers is exposing personal information, including IP addresses, but clarified that it only appears to be happening on the PlayStation 5 version of the game. A fix is expected tomorrow.

We tested Marvel's Avengers on Steam and did not encounter the problem, so you should be safe if you're playing on PC—although out of an abundance of caution, you might want to double-check if you decide to play online, just to be sure. I've reached out to Crystal Dynamics for more information on the problem, and will update if I receive a reply.