Valve Confirms: Steam User Data Safe from Hack

Valve has firmly denied recent reports suggesting a "major" data breach on its Steam platform, stating there was "NOT a breach" of Steam systems. Despite concerns among users that over 89 million user records might have been compromised, Valve's investigation revealed that the leak involved only "older text messages" containing one-time code SMSs, without any personal data.

In a statement on Steam, Valve clarified that after analyzing the leak sample, they concluded that customer data remained secure. They explained, "The leak consisted of older text messages that included one-time codes that were only valid for 15-minute time frames and the phone numbers they were sent to. The leaked data did not associate the phone numbers with a Steam account, password information, payment information or other personal data."

Valve reassured users that "Old text messages cannot be used to breach the security of your Steam account," and emphasized that any changes to a Steam email or password using SMS would trigger a confirmation via email and/or secure Steam messages.

Additionally, Valve took this opportunity to encourage users to enable the Steam Mobile Authenticator for enhanced 2-factor security, describing it as "the best way to send secure messages about your account and your account's safety."

Given the increasing frequency of data breaches and the fact that over 89 million individuals have Steam accounts, it's understandable that users were alarmed by the possibility of a security breach. One of the most notorious video game-related data breaches occurred in 2011 when the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable networks were hacked, leading to a nearly month-long outage and compromising 77 million accounts.

Moreover, it's not just customer data at risk. In October of the previous year, Pokémon developer Game Freak experienced a significant hack, resulting in the leakage of data about its former and current staff, as well as details about its development pipeline. In 2023, Sony confirmed that data of nearly 7,000 of its current and former employees was compromised in two separate breaches. Also, in December 2023, hackers accessed confidential data at Marvel's Spider-Man developer, Insomniac.