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Valve said on May 14, 2025 that the reported leak involving roughly 89 million Steam accounts was not a breach of Steam’s systems. According to Valve, the material reviewed consisted of older SMS messages, phone numbers and temporary one-time codes—not Steam passwords, payment information or a stolen account database. Valve said users did not need to change their passwords or phone numbers because of that incident, but phishing precautions remain important.

What Valve actually denied

Valve denied that the reported dataset came from a compromise of Steam’s core systems. Its statement did not prove that every file offered by alleged sellers was fabricated, nor did it identify the ultimate source of the SMS records. Valve said it examined a sample and found older text messages routed through messaging providers, with the investigation into the source still continuing.

That distinction matters: a leak of authentication messages handled by an outside provider is not the same event as an intrusion into Steam’s account database.

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Valve’s full statement is available in its May 14, 2025 Steam security notice.

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What data was reportedly exposed?

Reported or described by Valve Valve said was not present in the reviewed material
Older SMS messages Steam passwords
Phone numbers that received those messages Payment information
Temporary one-time codes Other personal data associated with Steam accounts
Codes with a stated 15-minute validity window A demonstrated link between phone numbers and Steam accounts

Valve said the older codes had expired and could not be used to breach a Steam account. It also said that an SMS-based attempt to change a Steam email address or password would require confirmation through email or Steam secure messages.

Those findings apply to the incident Valve described. They do not mean that every current code, account or login method is safe from every possible attack.

Why the story became an “89-million-account” breach

Secondary reports described information connected to approximately 89 million accounts being offered for sale and mentioned SMS logs or two-factor codes. Online discussion commonly converted that claim into “89 million Steam accounts were hacked.” GameSpot’s coverage records the scale of the original allegation and Valve’s subsequent clarification: No, Your Steam Data Was Not Leaked, Valve Confirms.

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The number should therefore be treated as a reported figure, not a confirmed count of compromised Steam accounts. Valve specifically said the reviewed SMS data did not associate the phone numbers with Steam accounts.

Do not follow links to alleged leaked files or dark-web listings. They may expose you to malware, credential theft or additional scams, and they are not needed to determine whether your account is safe.

Do you need to change your Steam password?

For the May 2025 SMS incident, Valve said no password or phone-number change was required. Changing a password anyway is harmless, but it should be understood as a precaution rather than evidence that Valve’s statement was false.

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Change your Steam password promptly if any of these conditions apply:

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  • You reuse it on another service, especially email, banking or another gaming platform.
  • You received an unexpected login, password-reset or email-change alert.
  • Steam shows an unfamiliar authorized device or session.
  • You entered credentials into a link received by text, email, Discord or social media.
  • Your password is weak, old or may have been exposed in an unrelated breach.
  • You believe someone accessed the account.

Use a unique password and secure the associated email account as well. A reused password can put an account at risk even when Steam itself was not breached.

What Steam users should do now

  1. Open Steam directly. Use the official client or type the Steam address manually instead of using a link in an unsolicited message.
  2. Review authorized devices and sessions. Check Steam’s authorized-devices page and remove anything you do not recognize.
  3. Enable the Steam Mobile Authenticator. Valve recommends the official Steam mobile app as the best way to receive secure account messages and add protection.
  4. Check your account email. Confirm that the address has not been changed and that your email account has its own unique password and multifactor protection.
  5. Ignore unsolicited security requests. Steam Support will not require you to disclose a one-time code or enter credentials on a random website.
  6. Contact official Steam Support if compromised. Start account recovery through Steam’s own support pages, then secure the email account and revoke suspicious sessions.

Why expired codes can still create phishing risk

An expired code is different from a current valid code. Valve said the old codes in the reviewed material could not be used to take over an account, but phone-number exposure can make impersonation more convincing. Scammers may send messages claiming that a Steam purchase, trade or login needs urgent confirmation, then direct you to a fake sign-in page.

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Never enter your Steam password or current authenticator code after following a link from a text message, email, social platform or chat. Navigate to Steam yourself and inspect account activity there. Treat any message that pressures you to “verify” an account, reverse a trade or contact a supposed employee as suspicious.

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Separate August 2026 logistics-partner incident

Reports about a later CEVA Logistics cyberattack concern a different event. According to current secondary reporting, the attack occurred between July 29 and August 1, 2026 and involved delivery information for some European Steam hardware orders. Potentially exposed categories reportedly included names, postal addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, country, product type and order price. Reports said passwords, payment information and Steam Guard codes were not included.

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This was a vendor incident, not evidence that the Steam account database was breached, and it should not be merged with the 2025 SMS story. The strongest available accounts are secondary reports and copies of customer notifications; they do not establish that every Steam customer was affected. See PC Gamer’s report and Tom’s Hardware’s account for the reported scope. European hardware customers should rely on a direct notification from Valve or the relevant logistics provider, not a social-media post.

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Historical context: Steam did suffer an earlier intrusion

The 2025 SMS clarification does not mean Steam has never experienced a security incident. After a November 2011 intrusion and forum defacement, Valve said in February 2012 that attackers probably obtained a backup containing transaction information from 2004–2008. The backup included usernames, email addresses, encrypted billing addresses and encrypted credit-card information. Valve said it did not contain Steam passwords and that it had no evidence the encrypted card or billing data had been compromised. Valve’s account is in its February 2012 message to the Steam community.

What remains unknown

  • The ultimate source of the leaked SMS records.
  • Whether the dataset offered by sellers was complete or accurately represented.
  • Which external messaging providers handled the records.
  • Whether outside datasets could later correlate phone numbers with Steam accounts.
  • Whether individual users were targeted with phishing using information from the incident.

These uncertainties are why “not a Steam systems breach” should not be read as “no security risk of any kind.”

Bottom line

Valve’s May 14, 2025 statement found no evidence in the reported sample of a Steam account-database breach. It said the material consisted of older SMS traffic and expired one-time codes, without Steam passwords, payment information or demonstrated account associations. No password reset was required because of that event. Keep your password unique, review authorized sessions, use the Steam Mobile Authenticator and assume unsolicited security messages may be phishing. Treat the separate 2026 CEVA logistics incident as a limited, reported vendor event affecting some European hardware orders—not as the alleged 89-million-account Steam breach.

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