Originally the source code leaked in a 32meg package last week. The leak spelt the beginning of an investigation into how this could have happened. The result? A flurry of forums across the internet all buzzing about the leak of code to one of the most anticipated games of all time. Most believe the leak of source code is a bad thing and yet the leak of a beta copy of the game isn"t.
Today the Half Life 2 Beta leaked across the world onto the internet via IRC channels. The release by "anon" shows it"s obvious that the hackers who managed to sucessfully steal source code of the game itself also stole the game itself and who knows what else.
Today there are reports that Half Life 2 has been put back to 2004 due to the source code leaks, although these reports haven"t been officially denied by Valve or confirmed. This latest leak of the game itself is sure to hit Valve hard.
UPDATE: According to this article by CNN, Valve has pushed the release date by four months, to April 2004, for spending time to rewrite parts of the game.
Contrary to CNN"s report, The Inquirer is reporting that Sources close to them say that the "holiday season" release date is still set in stone. Valve is going to issue a statement confirming all this soon.