Steam users allege an unassuming, free-to-play 2D platformer named BlockBlasters is actually malware in disguise, left to flourish like a fungus on the digital storefront for nearly a month before Valve finally removed it. Nonetheless, BlockBlasters apparently had enough time to drain over $150,000 in cryptocurrency from people who downloaded it.
This is according to claims by crypto investment firm Paradigm advisor ZachXBT, which is known online for recreationally investigating what they determine are notable cryptocurrency scams. The anonymous detective addresses Steam in a September 21 post on Twitter, writing, "You clowns allow malware on your platform that has resulted in $150K+ stolen from victims (fake game has been available to download for more than a month)."
You clowns allow malware on your platform that has resulted in $150K+ stolen from victims (fake game has been available to download for more than a month) pic.twitter.com/886rO1PbDPSeptember 21, 2025
Screenshots show that BlockBlasters comes from a developer calling itself Genesis Interactive. While there are several crypto ventures in both investment and gaming that use the word "genesis" in their names, Genesis Interactive is a ghost online aside from a BlockBlasters Twitter account and SteamDB listing identifying BlockBlasters as its only title. SteamDB has also "flagged this app," labelling BlockBlasters "as suspicious."
The alleged BlockBlasters scam has suddenly drawn attention after cancer patient and cryptocurrency enthusiast Raivo Plavnieks said he was "drained for over 32,000$ USD of my creator fees earned on @pumpdotfun," a memecoin exchange platform, after downloading BlockBlasters. Other crypto personalities also report thousands of dollars stolen after downloading BlockBlasters, requesting "action" from Valve boss Gabe Newell.
Notably, these claims seem to have all been made between September 20 and September 22; BlockBlasters has been on Steam since August 17, according to the first and only post on its Twitter account.
This is genuinely quite mental. A steam game called "BlockBlasters" has genuine malware in it and has been on steam for over 53 days. Also has over 200 fake reviews from bot accounts, even some that have done negative reviews to make the whole thing look legit. Worst thing is… https://t.co/7m5Tyolrvc pic.twitter.com/kDZzJKoZHmSeptember 21, 2025
"My heart wants to jump out of my mouth and it hurts," Plavnieks writes on Twitter in response to the theft. A team of avenging angels then swooped in to provide what they describe in a publicly viewable Google document as "technical evidence" that BlockBlasters is a scam and "An heinous act of cowardice."
Unfortunately, expensive deception like the kind alleged here is commonplace in the crypto world, where fortunes are only as safe as whatever password is guarding them.
That said, it's unusual – and, actually, hugely detrimental – for a possible scam to be hosted on an otherwise legitimate site like Steam. GamesRadar+ has reached out to Valve for comment.
The avenging angels also address Valve in their Google doc: "appalling levels of vetting, how can you let such brazen malware exist on your platform."
