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The free-to-play game, PirateFi, infects users with malware that steals browser cookies, enabling the malware’s creator to hijack access to various online accounts.

In-game ads have now been officially banned from the popular gaming platform Steam, according to the new guidelines.

This sort of thing is atypical for Steam. The automated systems for game updates can sometimes crash PCs when the updates are problematic, but so far Valve has done a very good job of keeping actual malware out of the Steam store. (Can’t say the same for Apple, Google, or Microsoft .)

Valve has sent a warning email to users that installed removed game PirateFi on Steam, explaining that it included suspected malware.

Valve makes clear companies can still advertise in games. Those awkward billboards and real-world brand cosmetics are still fine to include, although Steam does stipulate that these must not be “disruptive” and that they be “appropriate within the context of the game.”

Reported to have amassed over 7,000 players, a free-to-play web3 game named PirateFi launched on Steam last week and was subsequently taken down for containing "malicious files". Users reportedly found out about this takedown as Valve took to notifying players that their rigs could be compromised.

A Free-to-Play Pirate Game on Steam Was Malware in Disguise . As PCMag reported, a malicious actor uploaded a title called PirateFi onto the Steam platform. The PirateFi store pag