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Steam Hosted Malware Game that Stole $32,000 from a Cancer Patient Live on Stream
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(another company that was bought by a massive company for fuck-all dollars just to harvest its user database): First time?
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What, specifically, makes you think an independent media organization that reports on privacy, data breaches, corporate malfeasance, and the “dark” sides of the internet,would turn around and do that to the readers their jobs depend on? If you knew about any of the four reporters that founded 404 Media, or the incredibly high quality journalism they produce, this thought wouldn’t have even crossed your mind. 404 Media, as other commenters have said, are completely up front and transparent about why they require a login, and how much they dislike the fact that it’s necessary.> If you knew about any of the four reporters that founded 404 Media, or the incredibly high quality journalism they produce, this thought wouldn’t have even crossed your mind. If one could ever actually *read* anything on 404 Media in the first place, maybe one would know that. But as somebody who doesn't have the preexisting knowledge of who founded the org or what sort of reporting they do, it's hard to glean anything useful when the articles are cut off by a paywall.
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That’s totally fair and understandable. I hate the login too. But it’s a small annoyance to get to read their free articles, since you still have to pay to read everything. But that’s their entire business model. It’s expensive to do the shit they do independently, but I totally get that not everyone can pay or can glean the values of an organization without already being familiar with their work. I realize I came on a bit strong, I just see a lot of people dismiss 404’s reasoning for adding that extra friction for their free stuff.
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https://archive.ph/2025.09.23-142643/https://www.404media.co/steam-hosted-malware-game-that-stole-32-000-from-a-cancer-patient-live-on-stream/
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> Plavnieks had installed a game called *BlockBlasters*, a 2D platformer listed on Steam that launched July 31, 2025 to a small audience who’d given it positive reviews. But the game was a scam and an August patch injected malware into the game that was meant to scan a user’s hard drive for data and, ultimately, their crypto. *BlockBlasters* is no longer listed on Steam and has been [*flagged as malicious*](https://archive.ph/o/lTwJJ/https://x.com/SteamDB/status/1970113742349140093?ref=404media.co) by the independent Steam archiving site SteamDB. Valve did not respond to 404 Media’s request for comment. There you are.
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You're paying with your data.
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https://archive.ph/2025.09.23-142643/https://www.404media.co/steam-hosted-malware-game-that-stole-32-000-from-a-cancer-patient-live-on-stream/I remember this game being promoted by a gaming article that popped up in my news feeds a few months ago. Beware of free games. Not saying they're all scams but it's worth your time to vet the authenticity. What are their motivations? What's their development history? How do they intend to make money? And if they don't intend to make money and it's not FOSS, what's in it for them? Steam charges a fee for publishing before you've even made a dime, so free games cost the developer more than just their development effort.
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oh no, they know that someone somewhere exists with a throwaway protonmail account. muh privacy.
