Popular Steam Wallpaper Program Removes App Over Malware Concerns
Overview & Key Takeaways
Wallpaper Engine has been a popular wallpaper tool on Steam for the better part of a decade since its release. However, the tool's application wallpaper was apparently hijacked by bad actors months ago who used it to infect users' machines with malware as the desktop wallpaper program ran in the background. Now, Wallpaper Engine's application is going to be permanently removed from the program over those malware concerns.
In a statement on Steam, the program's developers stated that users have a limited time to back up any wallpapers used from the application before the app is removed on Monday, July 6. The devs also note that removing the app only affects "0.5% of all wallpapers with actual user numbers being much lower than even that."
"The reality is that executable files cannot be reliably secured with automated systems," reads the statement. "There will always be blind spots and ways for people to bypass them. As many of you know, we recently saw people trying to use this old feature to spread malware. At the end of the day, keeping a feature around that lets anyone easily share random .exe files on the Workshop is a risk we are no longer willing to take."
A report on Securlist published earlier this month brought this issue to light and contends that malware had been inserted in the Wallpaper Engine's application as far back as late 2025. The malware could reportedly hijack Steam accounts, cripple hard drives, insert hidden crypto miners, or use ransomware to encrypt important users' data.
There have been a handful of games removed from Steam over similar malware issues, including Beyond the Dark last spring. The issue has even drawn the attention of the FBI, which announced an investigation into multiple infected titles on Steam.
Wallpaper Engine has been a popular wallpaper tool on Steam for the better part of a decade since its release. However, the tool’s application wallpaper was apparently hijacked by bad actors months ago who used it to infect users’ machines with malware as the desktop wallpaper program ran in the background. Now, Wallpaper Engine’s application is going to be permanently removed from the program over those malware concerns.
In a statement on Steam, the program’s developers stated that users have a limited time to back up any wallpapers used from the application before the app is removed on Monday, July 6. The devs also note that removing the app only affects “0.5% of all wallpapers with actual user numbers being much lower than even that.”
“The reality is that executable files cannot be reliably secured with automated systems,” reads the statement. “There will always be blind spots and ways for people to bypass them. As many of you know, we recently saw people trying to use this old feature to spread malware. At the end of the day, keeping a feature around that lets anyone easily share random .exe files on the Workshop is a risk we are no longer willing to take.”
A report on Securlist published earlier this month brought this issue to light and contends that malware had been inserted in the Wallpaper Engine’s application as far back as late 2025. The malware could reportedly hijack Steam accounts, cripple hard drives, insert hidden crypto miners, or use ransomware to encrypt important users’ data.
There have been a handful of games removed from Steam over similar malware issues, including Beyond the Dark last spring. The issue has even drawn the attention of the FBI, which announced an investigation into multiple infected titles on Steam.
