Valve removes Steam game after allegations of hidden cryptocurrency miner [Updated]

Valve has removed simple 2D platformer Abstractism from its Steam platform after allegations that the app hid a secret cryptocurrency miner and used misleading item-trading tactics to attract players.

YouTuber SidAlpha highlighted earlier accusations of the game’s illicit cryptomining functions in a video this weekend, laying out how the $1 Abstractism increased CPU and GPU usage well beyond the point that a simple 2D line-art game should require. In a forum response on Steam, developer Okalo Union chalked that resource usage up to the “post-processing effects rendering” required when running on high graphics settings, but that claim doesn’t really pass the sniff test for a title with such simple visuals.

In addition, a suspiciously named “SteamService.exe” file in the Abstractism‘s directory reportedly set off many antimalware services for allowing…