'CS:GO' and 'Team Fortress 2' Source Code Leak Leaves Gamers Open to Cheats and Exploits

It's been a hectic time for both Team Fortress 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players, as source code for the games has leaked to the public. This has caused a bit of a panic across the player community, as it could seemingly lead to new exploits and cheats in-game, including remote code execution for anyone playing while others have access to said code. Remote code attacks could be especially harmful for those with connections that aren't as secure as they could be. 

The Twitter account @SteamDB attested that the hack happened this morning (April 22) and involved source code for both games dating back to 2017 and 2018. Amid these reports, popular community servers Creators.TF and Red Sun began suspending operations to protect players. However, some players have taken to social media to report that there is malicious code present on the official Team Fortress 2 servers. What's going on here, exactly? We've got everything you need to know. 

Valve, which holds the rights to Steam as well as the Source Engine, which both Team Fortress 2 and CS:GO were created with, has confirmed that there was indeed a code leak today, but that it shouldn't affect any multiplayer games. According to PCGamesN, the company has "not found any reason for players to be alarmed or avoid the current builds." So the official word from Valve is that you shouldn't actually be concerned at this time, though it's always good to remain cautious when online. 

"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," Valve continued. 

"From this review, we have not found any reason for players to be alarmed or avoid the current builds (as always, playing on the official servers is recommended for greatest security). We will continue to investigate the situation and will update news outlets and players if we find anything to prove otherwise." So if you're going to hop in-game and find a match to join, you might just want to be vigilant and make sure you report anything out of the ordinary. 

"In the meantime, if anyone has more information about the leak, the Valve security page describes how best to report that information." Valve advised. But while Valve itself has cleared the servers for use, some aren't taking chances or playing for the moment. If these two games happen to be a couple of your favorite, it looks like you might want to hold off on playing for a bit just to be safe – at least for a week or two while people have a chance to do their own investigation. 

There's another game you might want to hop over to in the interim, too – Riot Games' Valorant, which is one of the most popular Twitch streaming titles out there right now.