This article was updated by Andrea Trama on March 17, 2026, in reference to Schedule 1’s third-party mods and malware issues. It was first published on March 14.
The FBI has launched an official investigation into several games on Steam, targeting a group of games containing malware that have plagued the online marketplace. The storefront operated by Valve has stood as one of the largest gaming platforms since its debut in 2004, featuring more than 100,000 different games available for purchase. Steam offers everything from AAA games from the largest studios to a wide variety of indie games, with Valve often helping to promote and push games from smaller developers. However, Steam’s litany of games has played host to plenty of scandals throughout its more than two decades.
Steam’s widespread popularity has invited a host of bad actors who have plagued the storefront throughout its storied history. The open nature of the Steam Workshop has been a major source of malicious attacks on unsuspecting players in some cases. Valve has also regularly taken down games looking to scam users, often posing as legitimate game releases while trying to steal information from players. Now, the FBI is taking matters into its 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 a new inspection into seven different Steam games. The FBI notes seven games falling under scrutiny for containing malware, naming BlockBlasters, Chemia, Dashverse/DashFPS, Lampy, Lunara, PirateFi, and Tokenova as part of the investigation. The agency is looking to identify victims of the Steam malware attack, with those users potentially eligible for “certain services, restitution, and rights” under the United States’ federal and state law. The official documents for the investigation also suggest that the seven games cited within the official documents are likely being handled by the same person or group.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Easy (5)Medium (7)Hard (10)
The statement from the FBI gives more information about the specifics behind the targeted Steam games. The agency reveals that the attacks mainly affected users from May 2024 through January 2026, with BlockBlasters previously coming under fire for stealing money from a popular Twitch streamer. The FBI is asking victims of the malware scam to provide information about their engagement 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 ask some affected victims to give additional information as part of its investigation.
The FBI investigation is not the only major legal controversy connected to Steam throughout the past month, with Valve facing a lawsuit from the State of New York. Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against the Steam creator in late February, citing the platform’s loot boxes as a driving factor behind the legal action. James claimed that loot boxes in games like Dota 2 and Team Fortress 2 constitute illegal gambling marketed towards children, seeking triple the value of Valve’s loot box revenues in fines. Valve has also since received lawsuits from both the State of Washington and the UK-based Performing Right Society, on the grounds of loot boxes and copyright infringement, respectively.
Steam’s ongoing legal troubles have brought some major controversy as the platform is set to have a big year. Valve is gearing up for the launch of the Steam Machine as a brand-new home console, set to be close in performance to the PS5 and Xbox Series X. The company will also debut some new peripherals in 2026, with both the Steam Frame VR headset and a new version of the Steam Controller scheduled to launch throughout the year. Valve can only hope that its recent legal controversies won’t serve to hinder a pivotal year for Steam.
