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

Despite concerns from some users about reports claiming that over 89 million user records were compromised, Steam's thorough investigation revealed that the issue was limited to a leak of "older text messages." These messages contained one-time code SMSs but did not include any personal data.

In a statement posted on Steam, Valve clarified that after a detailed examination of the leak sample, it concluded that no customer data had been compromised. 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."

While addressing the issue, Valve took the opportunity to encourage players to set up the Steam Mobile Authenticator, highlighting it as "the best way to send secure messages about your account and your account's safety."

The recent scare comes amid a backdrop of increasing data breaches across the industry. With over 89 million Steam accounts, users had valid reasons to be concerned about a potential security compromise. 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, with 77 million accounts affected.

It's not just customer data at risk. Just last October, Pokémon developer Game Freak suffered a significant hack, leading to leaks of data about its former and current staff, as well as its development pipeline. In 2023, Sony confirmed that data of nearly 7,000 of its current and former employees had been compromised in two separate breaches. Additionally, in December 2023, hackers breached confidential data at Marvel's Spider-Man developer, Insomniac.