The FBI has launched an official investigation into several games SteamTargeting a group of games with malware that has plagued the online market. The Valve-powered storefront has grown to become the largest gaming platform since its debut in 2004, with more than 100,000 different games available for purchase. Steam offers a wide variety of indie games, from AAA games to big studios, with Valve helping to promote and push games from mostly small developers. However, Steam's litany of games has played host to many scandals in its more than two decades of existence.
Steam's massive popularity has invited many of the bad actors that have plagued the storefront throughout its long history. The open nature of Steam Workshop has been a major source of malicious attacks on unsuspecting players, with fans discovering malware in specific mods. Schedule 1. Valve has also regularly taken down games that try to scam users, often posing as legitimate game releases while trying to steal information from players. Now, the FBI is taking matters into their own hands with a full-scale investigation of several Steam games.
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The FBI is investigating some Steam games for malware
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation officially announced new inspections into seven different Steam games. The FBI notes that seven games are under investigation due to malware, so-called Block Blasters, Chemistry, Dashverse/DashFPS, Lampy, Lunara, PirateFiand Tokenova As part of the research. The agency is seeking to identify victims of Steam malware attacks, those users who are potentially eligible for “certain services, redress, and rights” under United States federal and state laws. Official documents for the investigation also suggest that the seven matches cited in the official documents may have been handled by the same person or group.
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The FBI's statement gives more information about the details behind the targeted Steam games. The agency revealed that the attacks mainly affected users from May 2024 to January 2026. Block Blasters Previously under fire for stealing money from a popular Twitch streamer. The FBI is asking victims of malware scams to provide information about their involvement with the games, including how they discovered the games, who told them about the games, and the amount of money stolen. The FBI also confirmed that the agency may request some affected victims to provide additional information as part of its investigation.
The FBI investigation isn't the only major legal dispute linked to Steam over the past month, with Valve facing a lawsuit from New York state. Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against the Steam maker in late February, citing the platform's loot boxes as a driving factor behind the legal action. James claims things like loot boxes in games Dota 2 and Team Fortress 2 Find in fines three times the value of Valve's loot box revenue, constitute illegal gambling marketed towards children. Valve has since received lawsuits from both the state of Washington and the UK-based Performing Rights Society on grounds of loot boxes and copyright infringement, respectively.
Steam's ongoing legal troubles have brought some major controversy as the platform is set for a big year. Valve is gearing up to launch the Steam Machine as a brand-new home console that will be close in performance to the PS5 and Xbox Series X. The company will also debut some new peripherals in 2026, with a new version of the Steam Frame VR headset and Steam Controller scheduled to launch throughout the year. Valve can only hope that its recent legal disputes don't derail a pivotal year for Steam.
