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Under the guise of a harmless horror, users were given a much more unpleasant surprise.
Free game on Steam again reminded that even a familiar platform does not save from risk. Behind the inno-ini-horror page Beyond The Dark was hiding a malware that tried to collect player data. The project has already been removed from the store, but the scheme itself looks alarmingly simple.
Beyond The Dark appeared on Steam not immediately in its current form. The game was originally released in December 2024 under the name Rodent Race. The project had other materials, other design and other gameplay. Later, the page began to change quickly, and from May 4, judging by the history of updates on SteamDB, the previous game was gradually replaced by a horror in the spirit of Phasmophobia.
This scheme has already met before. The game undergoes the initial Steam check as a normal project, and the malicious code is added later through updates. Similar cases have already been linked to the games Chemia and PirateFi, which attracted the attention of the FBI. Beyond The Dark, according to the author of the material, Aaron Down, looked like a typical free horror for playing with friends, but under the guise of an ordinary client tried to access personal data.
The suspicious behavior was noticed by the players and specialists themselves, including Eric Parker, who dismantled the work of the malicious version. After the complaints, Valve removed Beyond The Dark from Steam. At the time of publication, you can no longer download the game through the store.
History shows the weak point of digital platforms. The developer can download a legitimate game, undergo moderation, and then replace files through an update. Against the backdrop of the growing popularity of “wibe-coding”, when programs and games are collected with the help of AI tools like Claude, there may be more such dubious projects. For Valve, such cases mean that you need to check not only the release version, but also subsequent changes.
For players, the main risk is not related to large releases, but to little-known free projects that promise too much without having any reputation. Beyond The Dark quickly disappeared from Steam, but another similar project may reappear on the site under a different name.
Free game on Steam again reminded that even a familiar platform does not save from risk. Behind the inno-ini-horror page Beyond The Dark was hiding a malware that tried to collect player data. The project has already been removed from the store, but the scheme itself looks alarmingly simple.
Beyond The Dark appeared on Steam not immediately in its current form. The game was originally released in December 2024 under the name Rodent Race. The project had other materials, other design and other gameplay. Later, the page began to change quickly, and from May 4, judging by the history of updates on SteamDB, the previous game was gradually replaced by a horror in the spirit of Phasmophobia.
This scheme has already met before. The game undergoes the initial Steam check as a normal project, and the malicious code is added later through updates. Similar cases have already been linked to the games Chemia and PirateFi, which attracted the attention of the FBI. Beyond The Dark, according to the author of the material, Aaron Down, looked like a typical free horror for playing with friends, but under the guise of an ordinary client tried to access personal data.
The suspicious behavior was noticed by the players and specialists themselves, including Eric Parker, who dismantled the work of the malicious version. After the complaints, Valve removed Beyond The Dark from Steam. At the time of publication, you can no longer download the game through the store.
History shows the weak point of digital platforms. The developer can download a legitimate game, undergo moderation, and then replace files through an update. Against the backdrop of the growing popularity of “wibe-coding”, when programs and games are collected with the help of AI tools like Claude, there may be more such dubious projects. For Valve, such cases mean that you need to check not only the release version, but also subsequent changes.
For players, the main risk is not related to large releases, but to little-known free projects that promise too much without having any reputation. Beyond The Dark quickly disappeared from Steam, but another similar project may reappear on the site under a different name.
