As one of the largest PC gaming platforms in the world, Steam has hundreds of millions of monthly active players. However, a recent incident has raised concerns about its safety. A RastalandTV anchor who was undergoing cancer treatment had malware implanted into his account after downloading a Steam game, resulting in the theft of approximately $32,000 in creator income.
According to RastalandTV's description on social media, he followed the audience's suggestions during the live broadcast and downloaded a game "BlockBlasters" that was available on Steam and passed verification. After an update on August 30, the game was found to be carrying malware, which ultimately resulted in account funds being diverted. Valve has taken notice of this and removed the game.
Digital Foundry and community investigations revealed that the person behind the incident has been identified and is alleged to have previously operated a malware network that was spread through Steam.
Currently, RastalandTV has received a lot of community support, with some players offering to help make up for their losses. Valve has not yet responded further on the platform’s security review mechanism.
BlockBlasters has been removed from Steam, and Valve says it will continue to address the issues.