Valve Has Experienced the Biggest Data Leak in Its History

Valve experienced the most significant leak of company assets to date, with the online release of asset repositories for several of its 2016 games, including Half-Life 2: Episodes 1 & 2, Half-Life 2 Multiplayer, Portal, Counter-Strike: Source, Day of Defeat: Source, and Team Fortress 2. So, what happened?

Valve Has Experienced an Unprecedented Leak

The source of the leaks appears to be an individual who goes by the pseudonym WandererLeaker, and it is believed they were initially distributed through Discord. In the Discord chat, the leaker conveyed that they no longer cared about the files and had played around with them for a few years but did not upload them due to threats. They also mentioned they had no legal binding to the files anymore and that they had been in possession of them since 2016.

The Valve leaks consist of asset repositories, which is a common method of packaging and sharing a game’s files with external partners. The largest leak in terms of size is Team Fortress 2, a 61GB package containing nearly all of the game’s assets. This includes a variety of never-before-seen maps, models, PSDs, and VMFs. According to a TF2 content creator, Richter Overtime, once the community has had a chance to explore this 61GB package, there will be nothing left to discuss as this is the final official TF2 content drop that will ever be released.

The Leak Is Still Being Datamined

The statement above might be an exaggeration, but there is certainly much to be excited about in the leaked assets. The assets date back to 2016 and include cut content, content that was released in a different format, and assets that were abandoned for unknown reasons. There is a basic version of a proposed Raid mode, which was ultimately canceled and repurposed as elements of the Mann VS Machine mode, as well as map variants and entirely new maps. There are so many prototype maps that not all of them have been discovered yet.

The leaked assets include a 3D model of Saxton Hale, an alternate bone saw model, unused animations, several tutorial modes, weapon variants, an unused model for a three-legged robot, and more. There are also a number of green and yellow textures that suggest that Valve had considered using the classic Team Fortress color scheme for both teams at one point.

One of the most striking findings is a level 4 sentry, which for those unfamiliar with the game, is a powerful defensive structure that can turn players and their teams into fragmented remains. Some have noted that the idea of this structure having a final form is terrifying and that it’s probably best that it was left on the cutting room floor. The leak reportedly includes different taunts that were created but either remained unfinished or were never added to the game.