- Experts warn that there are millions of variants of malware on the game
- The pirates attract players with the promise of chargers, cracks, exclusive content and more
- GTA, Minecraft and COD are among the most abused titles
Grand Theft Auto V (GTA), Minecraft, Call of Duty (COD) and other popular games, are abused on the left and on the right to distribute malware among the Gen Z games community, have warned the experts.
A Kaspersky cybersecurity researchers report said between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025, there were more than 19 million attempts to download malicious files usurped in popular play titles.
Overall, he thinks that some 400,000 people worldwide may have been affected, including many young players.
GTA, Minecraft, COD, Sims all have struck
Kaspersky says that threat actors opt for older games with large flourishing communities.
GTA V was published more than a decade ago, but thanks to its Open Modding capacities, it is still extremely popular. In fact, it has sold more than 215 million copies worldwide to date, making it one of the best -selling video games of all time.
Researchers have detected nearly 4.5 million attack attempts involving files disguised as GTA -related content.
The fact that GTA 6 is at the corner of the street (it should be published in 2026) only exacerbates the problem, because the media threw leading to the version will certainly be abused to distribute false installers, early access offers and beta invitations.
Minecraft, another extremely popular title, ranked second, with 4.1 million attack attempts. Similar to GTA, the attacks were mainly motivated by the vast game of modding of the game and lasting popularity. COD ranked third with 2.6 million attacks, followed by Sims with 2.4 million.
Pirates generally seek victims on forums, social media groups and instant messaging cats and channels.
They announce cracks, chargers, different mods and complementary modules, which often prove to be infostators, hijackers of cryptocurrencies, wanderings and Trojan horses. Kaspersky urged players to refrain from downloading hacked content and being skeptical about gifts, rare skin promises or various bonuses.
