Malicious Steam Game Taken Down, But Players May Already Be Infected

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Summary

  • Valve removes PirateFi from Steam after the developer uploaded builds that contained suspected malware.
  • Emails sent to players urges anyone who has launched the game on Steam to run a full system scan.
  • PirateFi only peaked at 5 concurrent users, which suggests only a small number of players were likely infected.

Valve, the platform owner of Steam, took down a potentially harmful free-to-play game named PirateFi from its store after the developers uploaded suspicious software that might be malware. The game was launched on Steam on February 6 but was quickly removed by Valve less than a week later. Although few people seemed to have played PirateFi, Valve is now reaching out to players, warning them that their computers may have been tainted with harmful files.

Despite Epic Games Store consistently offering free games and attracting a growing number of users, it’s clear that Steam continues to reign as the leading platform for PC gamers seeking top-tier games. Launched in 2003, Steam initially served as an update client for Valve’s games. Over time, Valve significantly expanded the platform, making it home to most triple-A titles and indie games as well. In July 2024, Steam set a new record by hosting almost 37 million active users simultaneously.

Malicious Steam Game Taken Down By Valve

On Steam, users can find a wide variety of top-notch indie games and big-budget titles, but sometimes, fraudulent games manage to sneak in undetected. For instance, a game called PirateFi, which claimed to be a survival game offering ocean exploration, fishing, and adventure opportunities for solo or multiplayer, has been removed from the platform by Valve. The game was created by an unrecognized studio named Seaworth Interactive, who only produced this one title. It appears that PirateFi was actually designed to infiltrate users’ computers with malware. Users who played the game were advised via email from Valve to perform a full system scan as they might have been exposed to malicious software.

As indicated by the SteamDB page for ‘PirateFi’, the game saw a maximum of just 5 simultaneous players throughout its brief existence, suggesting that the user base might have been quite limited. Nevertheless, the game’s community forum contains numerous complaints and negative reviews from gamers warning others against downloading it. One player mentioned that the game drained their Steam wallet, as they couldn’t get the game to run, but a few days later discovered that their account had been hacked, with someone using their funds to buy Dota 2 skins. Another user advised players to change their passwords, as many accounts were reportedly compromised due to ‘PirateFi’.

It’s not certain whether the malware found in PirateFi was approved during Steam’s screening process or added later on. The email sent to users implies it was the latter, as Valve states that the developer uploaded potentially harmful files to Steam. Regrettably, such instances of PC gamers encountering malware are increasingly frequent. In a similar incident last year, some Cities: Skylines 2 players got infected with malware after a popular mod was updated with malicious files. Paradox Interactive expressed apologies to the affected players and advised fans to immediately secure their systems.

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2025-02-12 17:16