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On November 5, 2026, the Goddess of Victory: Nikke operations team issued a follow-up on the security incident affecting its PC launcher. The team confirmed that some files had been tampered with by a third party, creating the possibility that a malicious program was executed when the launcher started up. Anyone who launched the Windows PC launcher even once on or after September 27, 2026 at 15:41 is affected.
The first notice on November 4 only went as far as saying that an anomaly consistent with file tampering had been detected. This follow-up goes a step further, spelling out the impact, who is affected and exactly what to do about it. The security feature built into the official PC client (ACE) can now detect and remove the malicious program, and that capability went live at 8:00 on November 5.
The important part is that the impact does not stop at the game. The official notice states plainly that this incident may affect your PC as well as accounts and assets on external services. Players are being asked to change passwords for accounts used on the affected PC and to reissue API keys and tokens. Players who only use the mobile version are not affected.
This article lays out who is affected, how the automatic ACE check and the manual check work, the recommended follow-up steps such as changing passwords, and where to go if you suffered financial losses. If you play on PC, Commander, launch the client as soon as you finish reading this.
- Affected: anyone who launched the Windows launcher on or after September 27 at 15:41
- ACE checks automatically; manual checks look at debug.log and the registry
- Accounts outside the game may be affected, so change passwords and tokens
- Financial losses are handled case by case through customer support
First things first: are you affected?
Who is affected by the Nikke PC launcher tampering? Anyone who launched it after September 27 at 15:41
You are affected if you launched the Windows PC launcher even once on or after September 27, 2026 at 15:41. How many times you launched it, and whether you actually played afterward, makes no difference. One launch is enough to require a check and cleanup.
The mobile versions (iOS and Android) are unaffected. If you only play on a phone, there is nothing you need to do.
| Date and Time | Event |
|---|---|
| September 27, 2026, 15:41 | Anyone who launched the Windows PC launcher at or after this time is affected |
| November 4, around 2:30 | Client fix and update deployed |
| November 4 | First notice: an anomaly consistent with a tampered script file was announced |
| November 5, 8:00 | Detection and removal via the security feature (ACE) goes live; follow-up explains who is affected and what to do |
Do the math and the tampered file was being distributed for more than five weeks, from September 27 through November 4. If you launched the launcher even once in that window, you are affected whether or not you played the game.
What should you do? Let ACE check automatically, or inspect debug.log and the registry yourself
The official guidance offers two routes. The automatic check is the default, with a manual procedure provided for people who have already uninstalled the PC launcher or who want to verify things themselves.
Automatic check (ACE). Fully close your browser, then launch the official PC client. If the malicious program is detected, a pop-up asks you to confirm removal, and agreeing deletes the related logs, DLL and registry information in one pass. This feature has been available since 8:00 on November 5.
Manual check. Search the launcher’s debug.log for the string “k2f_chan registered.” If you find it, delete the following three items.
- Registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{E77CC89B-7401-4C04-8CED-149DB35ADD04}
- platform_experience_helper.dll, located inside a folder with a 64-character hexadecimal name within Chrome’s User Data directory
- The tbs_cache folder inside %APPDATA%\nikke_launcher
Step-by-step instructions with screenshots are in the official notice. Since this involves editing the registry, leave it to ACE’s automatic check if you are not confident.
We deeply apologize for the considerable anxiety and concern this PC launcher security incident has caused all of our Commanders. Any Commander who launched the Windows PC launcher even once on or after September 27 at 15:41 is asked to carry out a security check and take the necessary measures. The security feature built into the official PC client (ACE) makes it easier to perform that security check and take the necessary measures.
Source:Goddess of Victory: Nikke official X account
Within a day of the first notice, the team published the cutoff timestamp, the names of the files to delete and even the registry key. Not many operators put out this much detail in the first week of an incident like this, and the speed and granularity deserve credit. That said, a DLL being dropped inside Chrome’s User Data directory is not a problem that stays inside a game. You have to act on the assumption that whatever your browser had saved was a target.
Does this reach beyond the game? Change your passwords and reissue API keys and tokens
The official explanation is that the incident may extend past use of the PC launcher to affect your PC and accounts and assets on external services. After removing the malicious program, players are asked to do the following.
- Change the passwords for any accounts used on the affected PC
- If you use API keys or access tokens, revoke the existing ones and issue new keys
- Contact customer support if anything still looks wrong after cleanup
“Accounts used on the affected PC” does not mean just your Nikke account. It covers every email, social, payment and gaming platform account you logged into on that machine. It is a hassle, but skipping this part makes the cleanup pointless.
As of November 5, the operators have not published details on how the tampering was carried out or what the malicious program was transmitting. You may run into outside security write-ups asserting specific types of damage, but anything not in the official announcement should be read as speculation.
What if you lost money? Customer support handles it case by case
If you suffered financial losses, contact customer support in-game. The operators say they will review each case promptly and in detail and take the necessary action. No specifics on compensation or the criteria for it had been provided as of November 5.
In plenty of cases you will not know right away whether anything was taken. Keep an eye on your credit card statements, gaming platform purchase history, and crypto or payment service balances for a few weeks even after the cleanup is done.
To sum up, there are four things to do. Check for and remove the malicious program with ACE or manually, change the passwords for accounts used on that PC, reissue API keys and tokens, and contact support if you lost anything. The order matters, too: skipping the removal step and only changing passwords accomplishes nothing.
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Summary: the Nikke PC launcher tampering affects anyone who launched it after September 27 at 15:41, so run the ACE check and removal
Some files in the Goddess of Victory: Nikke PC launcher were tampered with by a third party, creating the possibility that a malicious program was executed at startup. Anyone who launched the Windows PC launcher even once on or after September 27, 2026 at 15:41 is affected, while the mobile versions are not. The official PC client’s security feature (ACE) has been able to detect and remove it since 8:00 on November 5, and the manual route is to search debug.log for “k2f_chan registered.” After removal, change the passwords for accounts used on the affected PC and reissue API keys and tokens; financial losses are handled individually through customer support.
One day after the first notice, the team published the cutoff timestamp, the names of the files to delete and the registry key itself. Not many operators disclose that much in the first week of an incident like this. On the other hand, the fact that a tampered launcher was distributed for more than five weeks is serious. Until the full scope of the impact and the prevention measures are published, the verdict stays on hold.
PC Commanders: launch the client today and run ACE. Then change every password you have.
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