No, Steam User Data Was Not Compromised In a Hack, Confirms Valve

Valve has firmly rejected recent reports suggesting that its Steam platform experienced a "major" data hack, asserting that there was "NOT a breach" of Steam systems.

Although some users were alarmed by claims that over 89 million user records had been compromised, Steam's thorough investigation revealed that the incident involved only a leak of "older text messages." Importantly, these messages contained one-time code SMSs but did not include any personal data.

In an official statement on Steam, Valve clarified that after reviewing the leaked data, it concluded that customer data remained secure. The statement read: "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 further reassured users, stating, "Old text messages cannot be used to breach the security of your Steam account, and whenever a code is used to change your Steam email or password using SMS, you will receive a confirmation via email and/or Steam secure messages."

Given the increasing frequency of data breaches and the fact that over 89 million individuals have Steam accounts, concerns about a potential security compromise were understandable. The most notorious video game-related data breach occurred in 2011, when the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable networks were severely disrupted for nearly a month, resulting in 77 million compromised accounts.

Moreover, it's not just customer data that faces risks. In October of the previous year, Pokémon developer Game Freak suffered a significant hack that exposed data about its past and present staff, as well as its development pipeline. In 2023, Sony confirmed that data from nearly 7,000 of its current and former employees was compromised in two separate breaches. Additionally, in December 2023, hackers breached confidential data at Marvel's Spider-Man developer, Insomniac.