Valve has reportedly suffered a massive leak, with over 12 terabytes of the game developer’s internal data now available online. This not only includes data from its own games such as Portal 2 and the cancelled Half-Life 2: Episode 3, but also other developers’ games such as Grand Theft Auto V and Dragon Age: Origins. It could be one of the largest video game leaks ever.
The Steam2 Content Server Dump first came to light on Saturday, and quickly spread on social media. Steam2 was Valve’s previous content distribution system, which was phased out after the introduction of SteamPipe in 2013. Valve used Steam2 to deliver game updates through its digital storefront Steam, which was launched in 2003. This leak purportedly contains data from a Steam2 content server, and spans the decade between 2003 to 2013.
It’s unclear exactly who is responsible for the leak. However, Valve content creator Scolcer claimed that the data wasn’t hacked, but found publicly available on an unprotected website (via Google Translate). This was corroborated by another Valve-focused content creator Gabe Follower.
“No hacking involved, just verified that everything in Steam2 Teraleak was obtained via a publicly accessable [sic] endpoint. It’s Valve’s fault…” Gabe Follower posted to X. “That’s why it’s only before 2013, after that they switched to the new storage system.”
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While fans are still combing through the massive archive of data, they’ve already uncovered a lot of interesting information. Valve released some of its most iconic games during the period covered by the leak, including Half-Life 2, Portal, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead, and Dota 2. As such, gamers have found files related to several of these titles, and are sharing screenshots and videos of their discoveries on social media.
So far, finds include a beta build of Left 4 Dead 2, files that seem linked to cancelled game Half-Life 2: Episode Three, content cut from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, data concerning cancelled Portal prequel F-Stop, and unreleased but playable versions of Portal 2, including dialogue, plotlines, and other features that didn’t make it into the final game.
Mashable has reached out to Valve for comment.
Significantly, Valve isn’t the only game developer that appears to have been swept up in the Steam2 Content Server Dump. Steam hosts both Valve’s own games and those made by other developers, having become one of the most popular digital distribution platforms for PC games. As such, other developers’ games which launched on Steam before 2013 have reportedly been included in the leak as well.
Fans have reportedly identified files or even early versions of games such as Grand Theft Auto V, Sid Meier’s Civilization V, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Dragon Age: Origins, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, Mafia II, Spec Ops: The Line, and Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II. Basically, if a game was on Steam in 2013 or earlier, it was likely included in the leak. According to SteamDB, Steam hosted 2122 games by 2013.
Much more information will undoubtedly be uncovered as people continue to trawl through the data. Even so, it will likely take some time. In 2024, approximately 1 terabyte of data was leaked from Nintendo’s servers in an incident dubbed the “Teraleak,” followed by a second release a year later. Though the Teraleak was significantly smaller than Valve’s breach, fans have continued to glean new information from it even up until last month.
Source: https://mashable.com/entertainment/valve-leak-12-terabytes-steam-games
