10 Most Insane Video Game Leaks Ever

2. An Unfinished Version Of Half-Life 2 Leaked Over A Year Before Release

Half-Life 2 was unquestionably one of the most anticipated video games of all time, but just over a year before its eventual November 2004 release, the game hit a major snag when its source code was leaked online by a German hacker, Axel Gembe, who had managed to enter Valve's network undetected.

The leak, which showed the game to be in an extremely unfinished state, reportedly caused a major slump in morale at Valve, yet Gembe ended up being hoist by his own petard when he contacted Valve president Gabe Newell to express his admiration.

Newell then teamed up with the FBI to invite Gembe to a fake job interview in the U.S., though before this could happen, he was arrested by German police and eventually sentenced to two years' probation.

In 2004, Valve entered an intense and prolonged crunch period to get the game finished, and of course, it eventually released to rave reviews and continues to be regarded as one of the greatest video games ever made.

Yet while even entire games do periodically leak online, it's incredibly rare for a game's actual source code - let alone that of one of the most hyped games in history - to get stolen.

For a brilliantly comprehensive rundown of the "code heist," check out this fantastic Eurogamer piece.