Valve, the company that created the gaming service Steam, has warned users that it has detected and removed a free game that may have contained files with malicious software. Players who have installed it are advised to check their computers.
Valve, the company that created the gaming service Steam, has warned users that it has detected and removed a free game that may have contained files with malicious software. Players who have installed it are advised to check their computers.
This was reported by the account of the analytical service SteamDB on X (Twitter), which published a letter from Valve. «Last week, a game called PirateFi appeared on Steam, which contained malware. Valve removed the game two days ago», — the post states .
Valve sent a message to potentially affected players to warn them of the threat and suggest they take steps to check for any unexpected viruses or software.
PirateFi for Steam arrived on Valve’s store on Thursday, February 6. Its page is currently unavailable on Steam, but the game is listed in search and webarchive. It’s described as «an addictive survival game set in a vibrant, low-politics world where you can play solo or with other players».
It offered players activities such as fishing, hunting, farming, as well as base building, weapon crafting, and competitive multiplayer against rival gangs. PirateFi was available for free download on Steam, like other games offered under the f2p model.
On Monday, February 10, Valve removed PirateFi from Steam, and users who played the game received a warning email.
«We are contacting you because you recently launched PirateFi on Steam. The Steam developer account for this game uploaded builds to Steam that contain suspected malware. You were playing PirateFi on Steam while this build was active, so it is likely that these malicious files launched on your computer», — Valve said.
The company assured that the build containing the suspected malware had been removed from Steam, but «strongly recommended» running a full system scan with an antivirus program to make sure that there were no «unexpected or recently installed software» on your PC.
«You may also want to consider completely reformatting your operating system to ensure that no malware remains on your computer», — Steam developers added.
Recall that last year, Steam saw a record number of games released. According to SteamDB, developers posted 18,825 new projects, which exceeded last year’s figure of 14,311 by 30%.
