Steam Game Demo – Recently, there was a game called PirateFi on Steam that reportedly contained malware. Valve has since removed the game and recommended through email that players reinstall their PCs.
And it seems that not too long ago, a game was reportedly circulating that was suspected of containing a dangerous virus within it. This game was also briefly available on Steam, leading to several users being infected with the virus. Why did this happen?
Once Again, a Game Demo on Steam Allegedly Contains a Virus?
The game in question is titled Sniper: Phantom’s Resolution, which has not yet been released but is scheduled to launch in the second quarter of 2025. Judging by its trailer, the game appears quite “realistic.”
One Reddit user, known as Feral_Wasp, attempted to play this game. Initially, the game wasn’t available on Valve’s platform, and users were directed to a suspicious-looking Sniper game website.
This website provides a download link for the demo of the game Sniper: Phantom’s Resolution. However, when this demo is installed, the user’s PC becomes infected with dangerous viruses.
After further investigation, it was discovered that the trailer shared bore a striking resemblance to the game Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2. Additionally, it was found that the title text on the promotional image on the Steam page contained a typo.
Malware Has the Potential to Steal User Data
Another Reddit user, meantbent3, conducted an analysis of the suspected malware. They attempted to dissect the game’s setup and discovered an application called “Windows Defender SmartScreen.exe.”
He also clarified that the folder structure of this game was designed to resemble a Unity game, but it’s fake, as can be seen from its subdirectories. There is also a file named “elevate.exe” that will run as an administrator program.
In summary, this virus is designed to launch a web browser and is believed to hijack web cookies and user data by rapidly executing various command lines, which can also significantly slow down the browser by using around 10GB of resources.
Valve has now confirmed on the game’s store page that the game is no longer available in the store. Technically, the game is not distributed on Steam, but Valve and users certainly need to be more vigilant.
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