Forum Discussion

Ozarkhillbilly60's avatar
Ozarkhillbilly60
Seasoned Newcomer
1 day ago

POGO BOWL

my AVG is not allowing me to open the Pogo Bowl due to it detecting a trojan virus in the game? This is what it says:  cdn-h5marbles-prod. Pogospike.com     JS: Downloader-GSN(Trj) .  I can open other games.    Ozarkhillbilly60

3 Replies

  • symba2012's avatar
    symba2012
    Seasoned Newcomer
    1 day ago

    I am also having this same issue with trying to play pogo bowl. I get the same error message, says it's a trojan.

  • I am also getting this same exact warning from my Norton Antivirus program. Has anyone figured out what to do? I know many users are having the same issue with Pogo Bowl.

  • Ozarkhillbilly60​ Player_29r4ntop​ symba2012​ 

    Hello! I came across this posting yesterday and I needed a bit of time to do research and also play Pogo Bowl to see what was coming up on my devices. 

    Good News: There is not a Trojan Horse in Pogo Bowl, I ran 2 different scans on two different devices, looked at the browser console on both and nothing suspicious appeared on either device, nor did I get any alerts. 

    Let's deep dive on why this is happening and steps to double check and correct it 🤓

    cdn-h5marbles-prod. Pogospike.com = This is simply the address of Pogo's game delivery network, think of it like a warehouse that stores and delivers game files directly to your browser. Pogospike.com is a legitimate domain used by Pogo to serve game content. It is not a suspicious website.

    JS:Downloader-GSN(Trj) =This is your antivirus program's label for what it thinks it found. Let's break it down:

    The JS prefix means JavaScript

    The Downloader part means it detected a script downloading files

    The GSN portion is simply internal signature code used to categorize this specific detection pattern

    The [Trj] suffix means AVG/Norton classified it as a potential Trojan

    Here is the key thing to understand, browser-based games like Pogo Bowl are required to download game assets to run correctly. Your antivirus is seeing that download behavior and incorrectly flagging it as suspicious. This is called a "false positive."

    A false positive occurs when an antivirus program incorrectly identifies safe and legitimate behavior as a threat. This is actually very common with browser-based games because they MUST download assets to function, that is simply how they work. The antivirus sees downloading behavior and reacts defensively even when the source is completely legitimate.

    This is not AVG or Norton doing something wrong — they are doing their job. They just need a little guidance from us to recognize that Pogo's game delivery network is a trusted and safe source.

    It is also worth noting that both AVG and Norton pushed definition updates within the last few days.

    AVG ➝ Updated May 20, 2026 

    Norton ➝ Updated May 21, 2026 

    Keeping our antivirus definitions up to date is one of the most important things you can do for your device. Outdated definitions are more likely to incorrectly flag legitimate software as suspicious. Think of it like your antivirus wearing old glasses, it cannot see clearly enough to tell the difference between a real threat and a safe game file.

    *You can verify these update dates with a simple web search! Just type "AVG antivirus update date" or "Norton antivirus update date" into a search engine and the most recent update information will appear.

    What to do and how to verify this!

    Step 1 — Check for Updates for your antivirus program first!

    Before anything else, make sure your antivirus program is fully up to date. This includes both the program itself and its definition database. Think of the definition database like a dictionary your antivirus uses to identify threats — an outdated dictionary means it may not correctly recognize newer legitimate software and is more likely to produce false positives. Once updated, run a full system scan to see if a "trojan" is actually on your device.

    Step 2 — Add an Exception in your antivirus.

    Once you have confirmed everything is clean, the next step is to let your antivirus know that Pogo's game delivery network is a trusted and safe source. Here is how to do that in the most common programs:

    For AVG users:

    • Open AVG
    • Go to Menu → Settings
    • Select Exceptions
    • Add pogospike.com as a trusted site
    • Restart your browser and try again

     

    For Norton users:

    • Open Norton
    • Go to Settings
    • Select Web Protection
    • Add pogospike.com to trusted sites
    • Restart your browser and try again
    • For all other antivirus programs:
    • Look for "Exclusions" "Exceptions" or "Trusted Sites" in your settings
    • Add pogospike.com
    • Restart your browser and try again

     

    Simply add this one exception. Your antivirus is still doing a very important job keeping you and your device safe! 💙

    Step 3 — Clear your browser cache and restart!

    After adding the exception, clear your browser cache and cookies, do a full restart of your browser and try loading Pogo Bowl again. This ensures your browser pulls a completely fresh copy of the game files without any previously blocked content interfering.

    I want to reassure everyone in this thread that I personally played Pogo Bowl, ran scans on two different devices, checked the browser console on both and found absolutely nothing suspicious. Pogo Bowl is safe to play. At times antivirus programs being overly cautious about completely normal browser game behavior.

    (Other usernames blocked per forum guidelines, rules and privacy)

     

    Please give the troubleshooting steps a try! If you have any questions or need any help, please do not hesitate to reach out again. Together with other players and our EA Community Managers, we would be happy to offer you more support.

Featured Places

Node avatar for Pogo Technical Issues & Bugs

Pogo Technical Issues & Bugs

Join the Pogo community to talk about game issues, browser and HTML5 troubleshooting, and report bugs in the games.Latest Activity: 2 days ago
5,602 Posts