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

A Valve company office 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.

Artwork related to the Team Fortress 2 game

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.

This One Scene in the Weird Al Trailer Seems Absolutely Legit

the Weird Al Trailer

The new trailer for WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story looks incredible, but you may be puzzled if you’re not in on the joke. What percentage of this film is a “genuine” biopic? The brief response is: barely anything. True Weird Al fans are aware that Weird Al’s virtuousness sets him apart from other “rock stars.” The purpose of WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story is to construct a twisted and humorous rendition of Weird Al’s actual history.

Weird Al’s Story

Although the main focus of WEIRD is to be an outrageously fabricated story of Weird Al’s (Daniel Radcliffe) ascent to stardom, there are certain general features of the retelling of Al Yankovic’s life that are true in spirit. For instance, Dr. Demento (Rainn Wilson) was a crucial figure in Al’s early career and encouraged him. Al ate bologna back then because he didn’t switch to vegetarianism until 1992.

A still from the Weird Al trailer

While certain portions of this parodic “Hollywood biography” may be accurate, the specifics are as illogical and unreliable as an overturned box of hamsters. This is all good since it’s for Weird Al’s glory, but some of us would give everything to see just a little bit of the genuine Al. Thankfully, the teaser shows a scenario that takes place in a men’s restroom and it’s totally legit.

What Fans Can See in the Trailer

Fans can witness Al and his band—drummer Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz, bassist Steve Jay, and guitarist Jim West—rocking and recording a song inside a restroom at the 2:20 mark of WEIRD. The sequence is based on a genuine recording session that took place in 1979 while Yankovic was a student at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo studying architecture.

WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story

The Knack’s popular song “My Sharona,” which was frequently played while he was a DJ at the college radio station (KCPR), plus his exposure to other comedic songs inspired Yankovic to record his parody of it in a men’s restroom on campus. When the band performed at Cal Poly in late November 1979, Weird Al was able to get a cassette of the parody to The Knack’s lead vocalist Doug Fieger. The song, “My Bologna,” which can be heard in the WEIRD trailer in its full-band version, became a success on Dr. Demento’s radio program. History that’s been dramatized a lot follows.