It seems that source code for Team Fortress 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was recently leaked to the public. This has created a bit of fear for players as they worry that player security could be at risk.
What Do We Know About This Leak So Far?
While not a lot is known about this leak or where it originated, according to SteamDB, the code is dated from 2017-18. This data was previously made available to Source engine licensees but was recently made public.
Tyler McVicker from Valve News Network said in a Twitch stream that the code came from a “member of the Source engine development community”.
He went on to say that members of the Source Engine modding team, Lever Softworks, attempted to contain the leak after he warned Valve.
“I was very aware of it, and in fact the warning signs of the original leak—it was very apparent, and then it did leak sometime in late 2018, and then my little group of Source Engine developers, all on this Lever Softworks Discord server, were discussing the leak and how to contain it, how to keep it from hitting critical mass,” McVicker said.
Word of the leak back in 2018 was successfully contained to just a few people until the recent leak resurfaced. While McVicker said that this leak was contained to protect developers and communities, the risk to players themselves is low due to the fact that this leak has been around for a couple of years now.
For now, the identity of the “member of the Source engine development community” has not been identified and the source of the leak is still unclear. McVicker also claims that whoever originally leaked the code was not the same person who leaked the code this week.
Creators.TF Servers Offline To Combat The Threat
In response to this news, Creators.TF, the Team Fortress, and CS:GO community servers temporarily took their servers offline. They released a statement on Twitter: “Due to the recent source code leak we will be closing our servers for the foreseeable future. This is because of the uncertainty surrounding security of our infrastructure, as well as a potential for damage to be caused to your computer.”
Valve Addresses The Leak And Puts Players’ Minds At Ease
Valve has stepped forward to address the leak regarding Team Fortress 2 within a series of Tweets.
They informed people that the leaked code originally came from CS:GO and includes old pieces of code from Team Fortress 2. They also assured their users that this is not a cause for concern or dangerous in any way.
They will continue to investigate this matter but so far they have “not found any reason for TF2 players to be alarmed or avoid the current builds” and also reminded users “(as always, playing on the official servers is recommended for greatest security).”
The official Twitter account for CS:GO also released a similar statement. “We have reviewed the leaked code and believe it to be a reposting of a limited CS:GO engine code depot released to partners in late 2017, and originally leaked in 2018. From this review, we have not found any reason for players to be alarmed or avoid the current builds.”
This looks to be a relief for anyone worried about the security risks. As it looks like there’s still an ongoing investigation, if there are any more updates on this story, we will be sure to keep you in the loop.