Win32: Malware-gen ??? In this game???

[t.p.rj]

I've bought this game, installed it and when I tryed to play it... Avast blocked it and said that it was infected with Win32: Malware-gen!
Did that happen to anyone else?
How can this happen in a game bought in Steam? What devs have to say about it?

[Doubtful]

It's a false positive...I don't understand what causes it with this particular game, but it's a known issue. The dev has chimed in about it a few times in the forum.

I have no reason to believe the game is anything but safe, and the developer is very responsive and seems to be a good person, as well. :)

I would just add an exception and start playing.

[t.p.rj]

ok, dude... thanks a lot. I'll play!

[Doubtful]

Enjoy! It's a very different game as JRPGs go, but worth taking the time to learn.

There's a lot of useful info buried in the discussions if you can't figure something out, too.

[Vision Riders Entertainment]

Anti-virus software red flags pop up every now and then for the game. See for example, this old thread:

http://steamcommunity.com/app/358030/discussions/0/535152276590238614/

It's an issue a lot of indie devs run into. Sadly, there's not a whole lot I can do about the issue except keep an eye on it.

[t.p.rj]

Originally posted by Vision Riders Entertainment:

Anti-virus software red flags pop up every now and then for the game. See for example, this old thread:

http://steamcommunity.com/app/358030/discussions/0/535152276590238614/

It's an issue a lot of indie devs run into. Sadly, there's not a whole lot I can do about the issue except keep an eye on it.

Thank you, devs. I'm already playing the game. Sorry for bothering you.

[Vision Riders Entertainment]

Originally posted by t.p.rj:

Thank you, devs. I'm already playing the game. Sorry for bothering you.

No problem. It's good to know when there's issues like this so that I can stay aware of them.

Enjoy the game!

[slartifer]

ESET flags this for me as well. It flags it as a trojan, specifically, and it does it ON DOWNLOAD -- doesn't even have to be executed.

It is the ONLY Steam game it's ever flagged for me, and of course I've downloaded lots of exe files on Steam. Choosing "clean" results in the .exe being deleted. So it's something in that .exe...

Respectfully -- while I understand this might be hard to figure out -- this isn't one antivirus program throwing a red flag, it's at least three or four different ones (over the various threads). That's clearly not something that's common for games on Steam. Whatever is going on is specific to Another Star.

I would prefer to wait for a fix, but it looks like the devs don't think they can fix it, so I guess it's refund time :/

[slartifer]

UPDATE:
Looking at the actual game files, turns out my AV has no problems with the "_NoSteam" version of the game. Fine with me. I can live with a manual launch. Guess it's definitely something Steam-related, huh...

[Vision Riders Entertainment]

That's really weird. Probably has something to do with the fact that the Steam version "phones home" to Valve's servers, which in some cases can be a red flag for malware.

When I get the time, I might see if I can get in contact with Valve about it, on the off chance they will actually take the time to respond to me.

[slartifer]

btw, very glad I got past it -- REALLY enjoying the game. props to you, dev!

[S0LAR]

Technically, what are the differences between the Steam and Non-Steam versions?

[S0LAR]

According to VirusTotal, more than half of the scanners identify the file as containing a trojan. So while I don't think the author means any harm, something is not right here.
https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/10878c8638f2e766e835a40e63bc76a5884cd8bc5fc108f283fef61ecf5b3249

[Vision Riders Entertainment]

The only difference between the Steam and non-Steam version is that the Steam version links to and makes calls to the Steam runtime library. These include sending data to and from the Valve servers (achievement progress, et cetera), which is likely what trips the scanners.

[S0LAR]

I submitted the executable to many AV vendors now and got it removed as a (false) positive from several lists. I'm working on getting it unlisted from more databases.

[S0LAR]

As of now only 16 of 67 report this as malware. Quite a change from before. Reporting false positives to AV vendors really pays off.
https://ibb.co/7gZPBrR
https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/10878c8638f2e766e835a40e63bc76a5884cd8bc5fc108f283fef61ecf5b3249