The entire source code for the much-anticipated Half-Life 2 has been leaked to the Internet, according to a security expert.

Copies of the source code began trading wildly on IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channels last night and apparently followed a sophisticated attack on the network of Valve, the company behind Half-Life, according to Thor Larholm a senior security researcher at PivX Solutions.

A message posted on Thursday on a Half-Life enthusiast bulletin board and purporting to be from Gabe Newell, founder of Valve Corp, said that the source code was stolen on September 19 by hackers who systematically compromised the company's computer systems.

"Ever have one of those weeks? This has just not been the best couple of days for me or for Valve," the message begins.

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