Theft of code source delays Half Life 2

Aelorean

Theft of code source delays introduction of new Vivendi computer game

PARIS (AFP) - Vivendi Universal Games, a subsidiary of French media group Vivendi Universal, said it would be unable to launch its new computer game Half Life 2 in time for the end-of-the-year holidays following the theft of part of its code source.

"Vivendi Universal Games is only the distributor of the product, which is produced by the US studio Valve and so it will up to them to make an announcement," the head of Vivendi Universal Games International Christophe Ramboz told AFP.

"But it is true that the launch has been delayed by a theft of a part of the game."

He added however that it will be impossible for those who committed the theft to take advantage of it since they now possess only a third of the code.

The launch of Half Life 2, planned for this year, is now expected to boost sales next year, Ramboz said.

The French newspaper Les Echos, which revealed the incident, said a computer hacker had been able to break into the messaging system of Valve founder Gabe Newell to introduce software enabling the theft.

The launch delay is a blow to Vivendi Universal Games, which had been counting on Half Life 2 to compensate for the failure of another game, Hulk, in the first half of the year. The company had been banking on Half Life 2 to galvanize sales in the United States following a first half operating loss of 52 million euros (61 million dollars).

Aelorean · Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2003 3:51 pm Post subject:

The funny part about this story is it makes it sound like the source code was stolen and would have to be rewritten..lol. Which, if true, would be about the dumbest thing ever.

My assumption is that they are delaying it to change source so that those that have the third right now will not have an extreme advantage when it is released.

TheNerple · Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2003 4:18 pm Post subject:

This story made me giggle like a little school girl.
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Wamz · Member Joined: 23 May 2003 Posts: 253

Almost like the time , makers of Half life had stolen some code from id software. I don't know what it was all about, think it was more or less them steeling the game engine with out paying for it.

Spirit of the Night · Member Joined: 24 Jan 2003 Posts: 420

I've been following the story from the very beginning on another forum I frequent. It's been the most dramatic series of events I've ever seen in the games industry. This 2004 delay MIGHT just be a rumor, because so far this French newspaper are the only ones who have confirmed the delay, I haven't seen any official word from Vivendi or Valve and the press release isn't on Vivendi's site.
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fieni · Member Joined: 29 Aug 2001 Posts: 686 Location: Californie

http://news.com.com/2100-7349-5087698.html?tag=cd_top

http://www.halflife2.net/

for other ref to it.

warlax007 · Member Joined: 25 Dec 2002 Posts: 732

This is so bad. I was so looking forward to this game. What this does for MP play is let hackers make cheats for the game Sad

. The same thing had happen to quake 1. Someone stolen the code, then ID released the game code and every hacker made a cheat. Quake became the all time cheating game. The cheats and hacks I saw were; full ammon all the time, full sheild when they respawed, wall hacks seeing through walls, auto aim which then cam bots you could control crashing servers, kicking people off the servers and IP hideing whach was a good thing. All these lamers though they were L33t because they could down load a hack and cheat with it. I just hope HL2 does not become that quake of old.

Jeff

Ratbart · Member Joined: 26 Sep 2003 Posts: 76

Quake... the good old days. I still say that Doom and Quake were two of the best games ever made. I spent many a night looking down the sights of a rocket launcher searching for the next frag. It would be a shame if HL2 got delayed.
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soto01 · Member Joined: 30 Jun 2003 Posts: 646

GAH, I am looking forward to this game alot. Amazing the lack of security some of these companies have in protecting their coding.

Tibb

Rufuss · Member Joined: 17 Aug 2003 Posts: 237 Location: Oklahoma

Yeah, I was really pissed off when i first heard of HL2 was being delayed. It was suppose to come out the first week of October. I had my pennies saved up and then this stupid shit happened =( HL2 and some other games were delayed a few months. So as much as i was looking forward to play HL2, the other games were delayed also =( Mother fudger, what is a girl suppose to play then? Huh, is the PC version of Halo suppose to hold me over until my other games come out? huh? huh? huh!!!!!!!???

/goes into the corner and starts crying

I was so looking forward to playing HL2 =( /cry
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Spirit of the Night · Member Joined: 24 Jan 2003 Posts: 420

^^^^

I e-mailed Gabe Newell yesterday asking what the deal was, but haven't recieved a reply yet. I bet things are extremely confusing at Vave right about now. I've heard buzz that the delay may just be for Europe, but that isn't really in line with the press release. Funny thing about the press release, though, it hasn't appeared on Vivendi's site yet, while another press release that came out AFTER the delay one has. I really don't know what to make of it.

In other news, the Anonymous hacker who leaked the source and the beta build of the game is now claiming to be releasing a pre-gold (basically, almost complete) version tomorrow, despite previously claiming that BOTH versions of the beta were the latest build of the game. He seems like a sociopathic attention whore with an axe to grind against Valve, based on his comments so far.
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