Malware Tycoon (PC) Demo Preview

If I had a nickel for every game demo I’ve covered in the past month that centers around computer viruses in the Windows XP era, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it’s happened twice. What we’ve got here is the February 2026 demo version of Malware Tycoon, developed and published by Jimmy Diamond. Does the name “Jimmy Diamond” effortlessly conjure up mental images of people who would become tycoons of actual malware for anyone else, or is it just me? Regardless, if you have any amount of computer literacy, you’ve likely figured out what Malware Tycoon is.

Your goal is to develop malware (i.e., computer viruses) in the early to mid-2000s using a legally distinct operating system heavily inspired by Windows XP. How you do so depends on which game mode you’re playing. There are three game modes available in this version of Malware Tycoon’s demo: Money Rush, Infection Rush, and Sandbox. As you’d likely expect, Sandbox mode lets you loose. It encourages you to freely screw around with all the currently available aspects of Malware Tycoon’s gameplay to your heart’s content without any objectives or potential failure states to worry about.

In Money Rush mode, you start with $1,000, and you have to acquire $10,000 as quickly as possible. Whether you make money by distributing the malware you develop, by gambling, or by (gasp) doing actual work is up to you. Of course, you can combine all three methods of income generation in any way you desire, so long as you don’t find yourself too broke to gamble or compile any new malware. In Infection Rush mode, you start with that same $1,000 of starting funds, and you need to infect as many computers as possible with your own malware before January 1st, 2005.

To actually create malware you can distribute, you double-click the conveniently placed “Malware Dev Kit” on your computer’s desktop. In the first stage of the process, you can spend certain amounts of in-game money and time to learn how to create malware that can do all sorts of things more and more effectively. There are five fields you can learn about to create more effective malware: Destruction, Stealth, Spreadability, Profitability, and Polymorphism. These categories do exactly what they say on the tin: cause more harm, avoid detection, make your malware spread more easily, make you more money, and so on.

Learning new skills in any of these five fields will grant you more and more skill points, which you can use each time you create new malware. You’ll use these skill points to pick which so-called “payloads” your malware will carry (i.e., what the malware will do once people start installing it). The payloads you can choose from are all from those five fields I mentioned you can learn about. Some payloads cancel out the effects of others, however, so it’s important to avoid choosing concurrent payloads that hamper your malware’s effectiveness. Malware Tycoon is kind enough to warn you about any such conflicts.

So, you pick whichever payloads you want, or at least whichever of them you have enough skill points to afford. That’ll bring you to stage four of the malware development process, where you’ll give your new virus a catchy name and compile its code. The catch is that compiling malware costs money, and it becomes increasingly more expensive based on how many payloads you chose. Thus, the more sophisticated of a computer virus you want to create, the more money you’ll need. Assuming you’ve got enough money to compile your current malware project, it’ll appear as an executable file on your desktop.

Then you’ll have to actually release your new malware onto the Internet, where it’ll (hopefully) be downloaded by tons of unsuspecting users of the so-called “Information Superhighway.” In the current Malware Tycoon demo, you can distribute your malware through two online forums – one where game developers can post their newest games, and one where scalawags and scurvy dogs can then pirate said games. You’ll make an account on either or both of these forums, upload the executable file containing your malware, and wait. This is why you should give your viruses eye-catching names – more people will likely download them that way.

Once you’ve released any viruses onto the Internet at large, you can double-click the “Malware Analytics” program on your desktop to see how each virus you’ve released is performing. This will tell you whether or not any of your viruses have been detected and removed from distribution, how much money you’ve made from that virus, how many computers the virus has infected, and how many computers the virus has destroyed if you ever go that route. Obviously, once your viruses have been discovered, they’re very likely to stop generating any money for you. So, you’ll start the process over again.

Another snag you’ll often encounter is that both of those forums where you can upload your malware will ban your existing accounts and your computer’s IP address after your most recently uploaded virus has been detected. You’ll need a way to mask your presence to circumvent these bans, which you can acquire through a subscription-based VPN. You’ll likely be bombarded with ads about this VPN, antivirus software you can purchase, and an online casino in era-appropriate browser ads each time you start surfing the Web. I love all of Malware Tycoon’s humor about those kinds of things.

Should you need extra money quickly, you can try your luck by playing Blackjack and/or slots at that online casino or do some contract work. What does that contract work entail? Well, it’ll require you to download a program called “WageSlaver,” released by an obscenely rich deadbeat father called Mark Suckerberg (really subtle there). Mark wants you to do his kids’ math homework for them to ensure they pass their classes. That’s it. There are three difficulty levels of math problems you can solve; you’re paid based on your chosen difficulty level and how many problems you answer correctly.

Do I think that specific aspect of Malware Tycoon is particularly soaked in satire and humor, even though it’s part of a game that’s already filled with both of those things? Yes. Did I have to use my phone’s calculator to solve elementary school-level addition and subtraction problems in order to earn in-game money? Also yes. This demo version of Malware Tycoon has easily earned the full game a spot on my wishlist, and we won’t have to wait long to play it: The full version of Malware Tycoon is currently slated to release on Steam on March 31st, 2026.