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A 12TB Steam “teraleak” spills more than a decade of lost PC gaming history

ThinkingNews Desk · how this was written

A 12-terabyte data leak from Steam has surfaced, containing more than a decade of previously unreleased PC-gaming files. Among the material are abandoned assets and builds for the unfinished Half-Life 2: Episode 3, along with a wide range of other game content that had not been publicly available. The leak represents a substantial portion of lost gaming history.

Written from all 4 reports below, not from any single one.

How it was reported

  1. Hacker News·
    12TB Steam leak reveals unseen Half-Life 2: Episode 3 builds

    A publicly accessible endpoint released 12-13 TB of Valve’s Steam2 archives, containing early builds of multiple games. The dump includes a June 2008 Left 4 Dead version with alternate HUD and voice lines, a July 2009 Portal 2 beta with a different GLaDOS and placeholder assets, and a Half-Life 2: Episode 3 weapon model (“Weaponizer”) embedded in Portal 2 files. Early CS:GO assets such as an MP5-Active and Riot Shield, plus prototype UI elements for Left 4 Dead 2 and other projects, were also found.

  2. The Verge·
    Enormous 12TB Steam leak includes abandoned Half-Life 2: Episode 3 assets

    A 12-terabyte archive of Steam uploads from 2003-2013 has been leaked, containing builds of every game released during that period. The dump includes abandoned Half-Life 2: Episode 3 assets, cut content from Portal 2, a camera-centric Portal universe game called F-Stop, and early versions of Call of Duty, Resident Evil, Mirror’s Edge, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and Dragon Age: Origins. Third-party developer titles are also present.

  3. Engadget·
    A decade's worth of Steam files totaling more than 12TB has leaked

    A 12-terabyte leak contains Valve’s internal builds and game assets from 2003-2013, including beta and finished versions of Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, CS:GO, F-Stop, and early Portal 2. The data also shows unreleased titles such as F-Stop, a camera-based game, and references to the canceled Half-Life 2: Episode 3. Valve has not responded to the leak.

  4. Ars Technica·
    A 12TB Steam “teraleak” spills more than a decade of lost PC gaming history

    A 12-terabyte “terarelease” of Valve’s defunct Steam2 server data has surfaced, containing depots for every game released on Steam between 2003 and 2013. The dump includes public releases as well as previously unseen pre-release, prototype, and playtest versions from Valve and third-party publishers. The leak ends in 2013, coinciding with Valve’s migration from Steam2 to the SteamPipe distribution system.

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