After the FBI recently warned about replacing certain Wi-Fi routers, the agency is now turning to gamers for help in the ongoing fight against malware. The federal agency has issued a public statement asking for victims to come forward affected by malware hiding inside video games hosted on Valve’s Steam games platform. Their statement lists several games that were available on Steam, which include BlockBlasters, Chemia, Dashverse / DashFPS, Lampy, Lunara, PirateFi, and Tokenova.
These titles were available on Steam between May of 2024 and January of 2026, but it’s not the first time malware has been found inside video games. None of these titles were massive successes, with SteamDB indicating that PirateFi may have had the largest user-base with around 11 players at its peak thirteen months ago, but with it being removed, complete statistical data could be inaccurate.
PirateFi was a free-to-play web3 title, but it’s unclear just how many players the game actually had, each potentially allowing for an infection vector. A circulated post on Telegram searching for a paid chat moderator position with the PirateFi team suggested that the game had over 7,000 players, all of whom could potentially be affected by malware.
What users can do
While PirateFi might have been the largest game, BlockBlasters might be the most notorious. A streamer on Twitch was scammed out of thousands in cancer treatment donations through BlockBlasters, a game suggested to him through his chat. The title was seemingly available with malware for over a month before being taken down, resulting in more than $150,000 being stolen from 261 different Steam accounts.
Steam sent warnings to users who downloaded and launched any game that it found to contain malware. And if you think that you’ve been affected, there are a number of steps you can take to help. For its part, the FBI is legally mandated to help identify any victim during its investigation. Those potentially affected by one of the listed games hosted on Steam could be eligible for restitution and other support services based on their local state and federal laws.
The FBI encourages those potentially affected, or those who may know someone who has been, to reach out and submit an inquiry through [email protected]. As a general note, it’s recommended to be wary of free unsolicited game keys or freelance and moderation job offers sent through social media for games, especially if payment is offered through cryptocurrency.
