Valve accidentally released 12 TB of archived Steam data from 2003‑2013
- Valve accidentally published 12 TB of archived Steam2 files.
- The archive contains early versions of Portal 2, Left 4 Dead, CS:GO.
- Prototypes of Half-Life 2: Episode Three and Sonic have been found.
- The company has not yet provided official comments.
The American developer and publisher Valve, known for its projects Counter-Strike, Dota 2, Half-Life, and others, has fallen victim to a major data leak. According to data miners, an archive of approximately 12 terabytes has been made publicly available, covering the period from 2003 to 2013 – the time of active use of the outdated content delivery system Steam2.
The leak, according to researchers Gabe Follower and Scolcer, was not the result of an external hack. Valve's mistake was an open access point connected to the Steam2 server, where old builds and auxiliary resources were stored. The files were discovered on the open network and immediately downloaded by users.
What exactly ended up in the archive
Among the 12 TB of data are internal builds and game resources from both Valve and third-party studios. In particular, the archive includes early versions of Portal 2, Left 4 Dead, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and F-Stop – a prequel to Portal. Additionally, data miners have already found beta versions of several games in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, indicating the inclusion of materials from external partners in the archive.
Files related to the long-awaited Half-Life 2: Episode Three are of particular interest. This project, announced back in 2006, has never been released, and its prototypes were developed during that period. The community hopes that the leak will allow them to see at least some of the developers' ideas.
Context and consequences
Steam2 was used by Valve for a decade before being replaced by the more modern Steam infrastructure. Therefore, the leak is limited to those games and resources that were stored in the system during that time. The volume of data suggests a lengthy investigation: even the preliminary list of discovered files spans several pages.
As of now, there have been no official comments from Valve. Company representatives typically respond to such incidents after conducting an internal audit and assessing the potential damage to users and partners.
Experts note that such leaks raise questions about the security of old data storage systems, especially in large tech companies where archives can remain accessible for a long time. In the case of Valve, the leak demonstrates how important regular checks and closing outdated access points are.
Source: 3DNews
