On February 6th, a game called 'PirateFi' saw its release on Steam, promoting itself as a Free to Play voxel based survival game wasn't what it seemed on the surface. This seemingly innocent asset flip Free to play game was in fact hiding malware in its game files that has infected as many as 1,500 Steam user's computers.[steamdb.info]

As highlighted by SteamDB[x.com], Steam were forced to issue email noticed 2 days ago on February 12th stating:

Originally posted by Steam:

We are contacting you because you recently launched PirateFi[...]The Steam account of the developer for this game uploaded builds to Steam that contained suspected malware.

You played PirateFi[...]on Steam while these builds were active, so it is likely that these malicious files launched on your computer.

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. You may also consider fully reformatting your operating system to ensure that no malicious software remains on your machine.

Steam user solniwko brought the game to the Steam community's attention on February 8th where the topic picked up more traction. Solniwko reported that their antivirus software stopped them from playing the game it was flagged for carrying "Trojan.Win32.Lazzzy.gen." According to a report by PCMag[uk.pcmag.com], what this virus does is it unpacks into the AppData files on the computer and steals browser cookies, enabling the malware's creator to hijack access to various online accounts, and this has appeared to happen to some users who were affected. Steam user SourceTV reported:

Originally posted by SourceTV:

Most of my stuff has either been hacked and passwords changed or being si[g]ned in using cookies thats been stolen!

Another user reported that their Microsoft account got stolen, the hacker then blocked Microsoft support from their email address, went into their Roblox account and stole $20 from it while also messaging users on their friends list with scam links and also used the affected users' Steam account to send Steam points to bot accounts.

As also expected, the game itself is just an asset flip. It was making use of the Unreal Engine 'Easy Survival RPG' kit.[www.fab.com]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuuQn6vJKHs

This also even transcended being a Steam scam even. A further investigation by Gizmodo and PCMag unveiled that the games' developer was making use of Telegram, where they were "recruiting" an in-game chat moderator position.

Originally posted by Anonymous:

Somebody in the channel that I was in sent a message that they had a in-game chat moderator vacancy that would pay 17$ an hour. I've noticed that the speed of his replies were very consistent, almost always 21 seconds, I was messaging with an AI that was trying to get people to download the game on their devices to infect their computers.

So the developer was even making use of other social media apps, putting together fake job vacancies just to get as many people's computers infected as possible.

Chat log of the developer with their fake job position.[sm.pcmag.com]

Something that is absent in both reports though is the talk of the reviews that were on the game page. Before the game was taken down by Steam, the game, despite housing a virus, had review ratings on Steam as being "positive", with the Wayback Machine archive showing it as having 87% positive reviews, but that's because, as highlighted by Sentinels' own Obey the Fist!, these reviews are in fact fake. All with very few products in their account, 1 review being for PirateFi only, and possibly also brought in from a service similar to Obzor which has been a hot topic on our group for the last year.

Now, Steam did the right thing once they were alerted. Not only did they take the game down, but they banned the developer's Steamworks account and also wiped the game's depot files to prevent the game from being downloaded and installed again. But I reiterate what Jorge Jimenez said at the end of the Gizmodo article:

Originally posted by Jorge Jimenez:

How was a game loaded with malware released onto Steam? More importantly, what is Valve’s plan to prevent something like this from happening again?

These are important questions that need answered. This isn't the first time that a game has had viruses and seen a release on Steam. SidAlpha has a catalogue of videos discussing other instances of this happening, the most recent instance before PirateFi happening just last year as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejPiM39dnYU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0G0_ggH-ws

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xClkx9UzsmE

Now, it's unclear whether the game was posted with the virus, or whether it was added in retrospectively once it passed the initial review. But really, as has been shown constantly, it's more a reason that there should at the very minimum be an automated system that has a watchful eye out, as in this instance, it declares its a trojan on the tin. I know some files can have some very suspicious names but be okay ultimately, however, even if there were an automated system that flagged these files for human review, this would prevent instances like this from happening. Some users have clearly been very badly affected by what has happened. It's something that shouldn't have happened. I'm all for an open doors approach, but there needs to be caveats and security protocols in place as a result of that. An entirely hands off attitude will just culminate to more instances like this happening in the future.

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Special thanks to our Patrons old_Navy_twidget, GreyGore and Caff for their continued support! Find out how you can become a Patron by joining our Discord server[discord.gg] and visiting our #Roles channel!

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Hey all!

As per our 2025 roadmap[x.com] that we released last year, we have spent January recruiting our new administrator and also a second writer, and we ended up concluding the process much quicker than planned. We have our brand new administrator and writer installed right now in the form of High Caffeine (also known as Caff). Caff has been with the group since around 2019 and has been an active member in our Discord and also a Patron of ours, so I'm thrilled to have him join our admin team. Do please be sure to give him a warm welcome! Caff will also aim to write some articles for me during my more particularly busy weeks.


Next up, which we have officially started today in the form of internal talks as to what it may look like is our Discussion and forum overhaul. We touched upon some of the details in our Roadmap announcement two months ago, but in short, over the next few months, we intend to:

• Add in more forums to help better organise discussions being had.
  
• Adding in a forum of all of our announcements to make finding older announcements easier.
  
• Our pinned discussions offering advice and guidance and tips will be rewritten, as they are all outdated.
  
• The Steam Game Sharing Thread will be retired in the near future, due to its very existence encouraging more disorganised discussions that are tricky to keep tabs on.

We have been discussing what kinds of forums we should start to introduce and I'm always keen to get community feedback where possible. After a discussion with Occular Malice, we came up with the following forums to help split our discussions up more appropriately:

• Rules & Information - Our forum for our rules and our how to help threads.
  
• Asset Flips
  
• Dirty Devs - Discussing a developer/studio more as a whole rather than a particular "game" or whose anti-consumer practices may encompass topics that go into more than one forum.
  
• Dead Games - Alerting of games that are multiplayer only with no players and/or early access games which have been abandoned.
  
• Review Manipulation - This includes review bombing incidents (positive and negative) and exposing fake reviews.
  
• Scams/Fraudulent Activity
  
• Steam Store Policies & Updates - Policy changes or developments with the store as a whole, or generally talk about Steam's stance on "x"
  
• Copyright/Trademark/Legal Issues
  
• Censorship
  
• Harassment
  
• The Positive Pool - A place to share good games, good developers or good gaming experiences.
  
• Other

Over the next few weeks, me and the mod team are going to be working through on a Sheet to work out where to move all of the threads we have currently, as opposed to moving them on a gradual basis just to make sure we can do the decision making before moving anything and to ensure disruption to our regular forum activity is mitigated as much as possible, so instead of a 2 month period where we are seen to be moving threads back and forth and a new forum popping up every now and then, we can hopefully aim for it to take less than a week.

Of course, all of these are just tentative, and we're keen to hear everyone else's feedback! Are there any other forum suggestions? Anything you like with this plan or dislike? Do let us know!

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Special thanks to our Patrons Stefan, Luke and Nin-Nin for their continued support! Become a Patron today by visiting our page either via my X profile's pinned post or through visiting our #Roles channel on Discord!

Also, I've started posting a lot more frequently on both X and Bluesky with both Steam related news and gaming news as a whole, I've had really positive responses on these, so if you're keen for an active feed on both Steam indie news and also notable AAA news, do check out my profiles on those sites!

Follow me on X[x.com]
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Join our Discord server[discord.gg]
Like and follow our Facebook page[www.facebook.com]
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E-mail me: mellowonline1@gmail.com

Media student Isla Thornton asked to interview me for an article she was doing for her BA course.

She published the article today, and it's pretty damn good. Here's hoping her professors give her a good grade!

Go give it a read, it's about Steam, Steam Sentinels, and a bit of a history lesson on Steam and it's previous baggage of dodgy developers.

https://medium.com/@IslaThornton/10-years-on-from-totalbiscuit-day-one-garrys-incident-the-slaughtering-grounds-the-fight-fa4041f1c6e5

Hi all!

Happy new year to you all!

Sentinels of the Store are opening the new year looking for a second writer to come on board our team. Please find our callout below:


Are you passionate about gaming, digital storefronts, and consumer advocacy? Are you keen to be a frontal force for change on the largest digital store front? Do you have a keen eye for detail and strong writing skills? Sentinels of the Store is looking for a dedicated Writer & Group Administrator to help shape our future!

About Us
Sentinels of the Store is committed to ensuring transparency, fairness, and a better experience for users on digital gaming platforms, with a primary focus on Steam. We track store updates, highlight issues, and advocate for improvements that benefit consumers and developers alike.

The Role
As our Writer & Administrator, you will:
✅ Create and manage written content – This includes news updates, advocacy pieces, and reports on Steam-related developments.
✅ Oversee group activities – Keep discussions organized, moderate content, and help ensure the group remains focused and engaged.
✅ Collaborate with the community – Engage with members, source feedback, and contribute to group initiatives.
✅ Maintain accuracy – Ensure all information is well-researched, balanced, and informative.

What We're Looking For
🔹 Strong writing and research skills.
🔹 A good understanding of Steam and digital storefront dynamics.
🔹 Ability to work independently and stay organized.
🔹 Passion for consumer advocacy and digital rights.
🔹 Previous experience in moderation or community management is a plus but not required.

Interested?
If you’d like to be part of Sentinels of the Store and help shape our advocacy efforts, we’d love to hear from you! Please fill in this short Google Form[docs.google.com] if you'd like to express interest, and we will be in touch!

Please note this is a volunteer position. Ideal for a writer looking to work with a small team and also access a new audience. The work is very casual and flexible.

Deadline for form applications will be midnight GMT on January 29th. Good luck to all applicants!

Hi all!

I hope you all have a great Christmas and a happy new year!

As a token of my gratitude for the support that you have all lunged at Sentinels this year, I've decided to mark it with a few giveaways!

I've launched 3 giveaways on SteamGifts exclusively for our members that you can find here for:

Borderlands 2 Game of the Year[www.steamgifts.com]
Tinykin[www.steamgifts.com]
Risk of Rain 2[www.steamgifts.com]

Winners for all of these will be drawn on December 28th.

I'm also going to be hosting some bonus giveaways exclusively on:

My X profile[x.com] - December 25th
The Sentinels' X profile[x.com] - December 26th
Our Discord server[discord.gg] - December 27th
and our Facebook page - December 28th

Be sure that you're following our X profiles, joined our Discord and liked and followed our Facebook group to be in with a chance of seeing and entering these giveaways! Please note that only the giveaways linked in this article will be hosted on SteamGifts, the others will be conducted on their dedicated platforms.

Thanks so much again for a great year, I'll be putting up a reflection post looking back at our achievements next week before we enter 2025!

Take care, have a good Christmas, and a happy New Year!

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Special thanks to our Patrons old_Navy_twidget, GreyGore & Caff for their continued support! Join our Discord server to find out how you can become a Patron today!

E-mail me: mellowonline1@gmail.com