Malware sneaks onto Steam, for the third time in 2025
Hey, valve. I know that you are all busy prohibiting porn games and not making new steam bridge design. But everything is fine there? I ask because, for the third time in 2025, someone was surprised distorting malware in a new game on the Steam window. It becomes a trend.
According to Prodaft safety researchers (via BleepingCompute), this may not be the case for the game downloaded via early access to malware. Instead, a known pirate injected the game files for the post-apocalypse craft game Fire With spy software on July 22. The researchers say that two separate packages have been added remotely to the game files, with the intention of being distributed via the Steam store.
The Hijackloader and Fickle Stealer packages were discovered in the game download files. Fire is always available for free download on Steam via Playtest feature, a kind of invitation beta program. The early access game has no release date and no criticism of current users, so the number of real infections can be quite low.
Games hosting malware on Steam were discovered in February (Piratefi) and March (Sniper: Phantom resolution), but in both cases, games and lists seemed to be deliberate counterfeits with stolen assets, probably made with the sole intention of disseminating malware via free downloads. They were both quickly removed from steam.
Fire was displayed in the Steam store 15 months ago. Nothing indicates that it is anything but a legitimate game, although one of the thousands of people who embark on steam and then languish in development. It seems possible that the developer himself (Aether Forge Studios, no other project) was hacked and that their access to Steam was compromised. Anyway, it is a disturbing trend for those who trust Steam for safe downloads.
