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Digital video game marketplace Steam has removed a game from its platform for containing malware.
The company behind Steam, Valve, warned gamers who downloaded and launched the game PirateFi that the game’s developer “uploaded builts to Steam that contained suspected malware” and that those who launched the game likely had malicious files executed on their PC, according to a message sent to users posted to Reddit.
“The builds containing the suspected malware have been removed from Steam, but we strongly encourage you to run a full-system scan using an anti-virus product that you trust or use regularly, and inspect your system for unexpected or newly installed software,” said Steam.
“You may also consider fully reformatting your operating system to ensure that no malicious software remains on your machine.”
A game called PirateFi released on Steam last week and it contained malware. Valve have removed the game two days ago.
— SteamDB (@SteamDB) February 12, 2025
Users that played the game have received the following email: pic.twitter.com/B98BFs0WbK
PirateFi advertises itself as a free-to-play “thrilling survival game set in a vibrant, low-poly world where you can choose to play solo or with others in multiplayer mode”.
It is currently unclear how many users downloaded the game in total, but according to a report by TechCrunch, an archived version of the game’s Steam page showed that the game had a 9/10 score out of 51 reviews.
The nature of the malware was also not specified, but as games are usually large files and have access to making changes on user devices, they are a dangerous tool for launching malware without the user suspecting any malicious activity.
As reported by PCMag, several users reported having data stolen or changes made to personal details or credentials.
“Yah my Microsoft account got stolen from this trojan,” said one user.
“They blocked Microsoft support from my emails and swiped it. Went in my Roblox and stole $20 and messaged all my friends scam links while taking all my Steam points to buy awards for bot accounts.”
Another user said: “Most of my stuff has either been hacked and passwords changed or being signed in using cookies that’ve been stolen!”
One user also flagged that the screenshots on the game’s page were stolen from another game called Easy Survival RPG.
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