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Did Valve Just Stealth Release Source 2?

Sneakily, Valve just released the new developer tools for Dota 2. An overnight release (in the US anyway) saw the addition of a new editor for the game plus some additional new features. But that’s not what has got the entire gaming world excited.

Several parts of the new release point to the creation studio running Valve’s brand new Source 2 game engine, the main theory being that, whilst the creator is different, and the in-game developer console is different, all of the in-game assets have remained as they were before the update, but with one subtle difference.

Each and every file usually found in the creation studio which share a name with source engine files have been renamed with the addition of the number 2, such as engine2.dll, vconsols.dll, vphysics.dll, etc. Whilst this doesn’t sound very exciting to the average Joe, but inquisitive RoyAwesome over at the Dota 2 subReddit thinks otherwise.

“Everything in this package is a new game,” said Roy, whose been doing some digging and asking around the community since the release “It’s all the Dota assets and code ported over to Source 2. That’s why Hammer is different. That’s why the console is different.”

“The general consensus around the Source reverse engineering community is that this is really Source 2.”

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The new development tools reference ‘Source 1.0’ files, which to some is evidence of a Source Engine 2 release. Credit: RayAwesome

Valve is yet to reveal more info apart from that the developer tools release is a “this is a developer focused release and currently has high system requirements.”.

This references the fact that another thing that may mean Source 2 is here is the very explicit system requirements, mostly high-spec ones, that the developer tools need to function. A 64-bit version of Windows plus a Direct X 11 graphics card are the core of these requirements.

Source 2 has been in development for a few years, with Gabe Newell, Valve’s studio head (read king/emperor), confirming “We’ve been working on the engine itself for quite a while.” and that “We’ve just been waiting for a game to roll it out with.” in a video from 2012. Valve has also been busy working on the new Steam Box console, and an accompanying game controller.

Source 2 is imminent, that much is clear. Whether this is the official release isn’t clear. We’ll stay frosty and keep you covered. Watch this space.

Source: Dota 2 Steam Community