Building Together: Inside the 2025 Cyrex Hackathon with Amazon Games

At Cyrex, our commitment to innovation, collaboration, and hands-on technical excellence has always been at the core of who we are. Every year, we bring our engineering team together for an in-person event, an opportunity to deepen our team culture, explore new technologies, and push the boundaries of our own capabilities.

But this year’s hackathon was something special.

Held in Istanbul, our 2025 edition saw Amazon Games - a valued Cyrex partner - join us on-site for four days of deep-dive cybersecurity challenges, real-world testing, and meaningful face-to-face collaboration.

From CTFs to Real-World Pen Testing

In past years, our annual team gathering typically featured a Capture-the-Flag (CTF) challenge, packed with puzzles that flex our skills in cryptography, reverse engineering, and exploitation.
This time, we shifted gears.

Our Co-Founder and COO, Mathieu Huysman, proposed a bold evolution of the event: a security-focused hackathon grounded in real-world penetration testing, with Amazon Games' New World (MMO) as the primary focus. Instead of theoretical targets, we aimed to benchmark a live environment - mirroring the kinds of engagements our team handles every day.

With around 20 engineers from both Cyrex and Amazon Games working side-by-side, the event became more than a test - it was a collaborative benchmarking exercise, a training ground, and a glimpse into the future of our shared efforts.

"We didn’t just explore the hype - we tackled real-world problems with practical tools and fresh thinking."

As our teams dug into the technical work, the benefits of being together in person quickly became apparent - not just in terms of efficiency, but in the quality of our collaboration and the exchange of ideas.

“It was incredible to see the team come together for such a major effort. penetration testing a game as complex and large-scale as New World and with such an impressive protection in place. In an era where digital interactions often replace in-person ones, being in the same room truly made a difference. It pushed us to go the extra mile (many of them) while having fun and learning a lot along the way.”

“Beyond the penetration testing challenges, our development team took the opportunity to dive deep into AI research and experimentation. From standalone projects focused on QA automation to real-time solutions in development workflows, project management, and even recruitment, the hackathon became a playground for innovation. We didn’t just explore the hype, we tackled real-world problems with practical tools and fresh thinking."

"AI isn’t new to us. It's already a core part of our daily operations. Whether it’s accelerating code reviews, enhancing test coverage, or streamlining candidate screening, we continuously integrate AI into our processes to boost both productivity and quality. This hackathon reinforced that mindset and pushed the boundaries of what’s possible when creativity meets the right technology.”

— Rui Molefas, Head of Operations at Cyrex

“It was a nice experience, as we were able to finally meet in person. There were a few new ideas and mini-projects that caught my attention, which could be implemented in our work - so definitely an interesting few days.”

— Nikola Lazarevic, Technical Project Manager at Cyrex

“Working with the Cyrex team in Istanbul was both informative and incredibly fun.
Their team brought together this amazing mix of technical expertise and genuine passion for gaming that made the whole event feel like a collaborative adventure. While they confirmed we're doing great work with our security foundations, they also helped us identify valuable opportunities to make New World and AGiD even more secure. That's the magic of live hacking events - you get real experts thinking creatively about your systems while having a blast doing it!"

— Ben Zigh, Head of Security Engineering at Amazon Games

More Than a Hackathon

Beyond the vulnerabilities discovered and techniques explored, this hackathon served as a unique touchpoint for two organizations committed to excellence in cybersecurity and game development. For Amazon Games, it provided a rare opportunity to see how their infrastructure holds up against a concentrated, expert team of ethical hackers. For Cyrex, it was a chance to sharpen our edge, test theories, and explore future-facing ideas - like a potential Cyrex bug bounty platform.

And for everyone involved, it was a reminder of what happens when brilliant minds come together with a shared purpose.

Looking Ahead

As we continue to grow our partnership with Amazon Games and expand our capabilities as a team, we’re proud to say this year’s hackathon was a milestone - not just in terms of security insights gained, but in the culture, trust, and knowledge we built together.

Whether it’s through rigorous pen testing, forward-thinking R&D, or simply sharing ideas across the table, Cyrex remains committed to pushing the boundaries of what secure, scalable systems can be - and having some fun along the way.