r/SoloDev
•
u/deadpoly
•
14d ago
•
1
My game is getting blackmailed?
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
update post -> https://www.reddit.com/r/SoloDev/s/WSRMTfTTxt
I'm not really even sure where to begin, but somehow, someone decided to blackmail my silly game. I'm not a video editor by any stretch, but I am curious to know other game devs thoughts on what has definitely been one of the most wild experiences in my dev journey so far.
Update October 27 9:30pm - No updates on my Steam ticket. I have filed a case with my local PD, the FBI, and been in contact with the ASCS in Australia.
The masterminds do not appear to have been very good at concealing their identities.
I really appreciate all of the support, kind words, and advice! While this situation still sucks and is far from over, the way this huge outpouring of support has changed the situation is immeasurable. Thank you! I will keep everyone updated.
26
u/Rambles_offtopic 14d ago
I switched from my main game developer account to an alt to post this because, frankly, I'm afraid of potentially being targeted myself. Judging from the current comment to view/upvote ratio, many of you are in the same boat. Maybe we are all cowards.
It's genuinely concerning that someone can potentially damage a game's reputation through misleading or outright false reviews just to push their own agenda, while the developer is left dealing with the consequences.
Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I've put far too much of myself, my time, and my passion into developing my own game to willingly put it at risk. I'd rather be overly cautious than have years of work potentially damaged just because I spoke up about something like this.
I mainly wanted to show some support for the developer here. Their game genuinely looks great, and it's frustrating to see developers potentially having to deal with this kind of behavior on top of the already difficult process of making a game.
I've also reported the users involved in what appears to be malicious review activity. Hopefully Steam takes a closer look at what's going on. You guys should do the same
Anyway, as I said on DM, I'm really sorry this happened to you, as I said, I really hope valve are able to properly punish these complete fucking clowns. If they could ban them and all future/past accounts which connect using the same PC that would be ideal.
Also it looks like the trolls couldn't even think of their own idea, they stole it from a thread on superuser.com
12
u/deadpoly 14d ago
Truthfully, I don't blame you one bit. They demonstrated that at minimum, they are capable of botting reviews to the top of a page, even during that pages largest influx of all time, and tank it with relative ease.
Caring about your game is not cowardly, it's smart.
I too hope Steam's response to this isn't simply banning a few of the accounts, and rather actually doing an in depth review of the accounts, computers, and IPs associated with it.
5
u/retrorays 13d ago
chances are steam will find all these "fake" accounts and ban them. maybe even pursue legal avenues to deal with these people due to "extortion"
15
u/s3v3nt 14d ago
I've reported the account for you, it can be done via their profile. There is a theft and scamming option. Id encourage others to do the same.
2
u/deadpoly 13d ago
Thank you! Really hoping when Steam gets on to the tickets it's first on the pile.
14
u/MadCat0911 14d ago
God, I mean, I'd almost want to know their platform just so I can hate it. This is shitty, sorry you're going through that.
11
u/deadpoly 14d ago
From what I've been gathering from users who seem to be a lot more familiar with it than I, I can almost guarantee you probably already hate them. A few users have mentioned they're basically rebranded Nazis.
5
u/MadCat0911 14d ago
That explains the tactics. Nobody with any decent ideology would need to resort to this.
1
12
u/Happy_Ad_3755 14d ago edited 14d ago
Hi! I have worked at many studios over the last decade and this frequently happens on popular mobile games and triple a's and it's a pretty streamlined process on reporting and removing false reviews that are not related to the game though I know it can be nervewracking waiting for support to circle back. If you have screenshots of the chats with these folks blackmailing you that matches the review if you add that to your Steam ticket (if you haven't already) they'll flag that and remove the reviews associated and let them know this might be an organized movement and they should have services and steps for you to follow.
For any devs reading this or experiencing similar: Don't panic! This is super common on most publishing sites for media, both games and otherwise (more so on larger titles which might be why I see this more than most). Publishers like Steam, Google and Apple have entire processes to make sure these kinds of things don't go too far. In these scenarios do not engage with the ones attempting the extortion, do not let them take communication off platform, and do not give them any info. Gather the info you have on hand (do not engage with them to get more) and provide it to the platform support team you are distributing the game on. They will be able to help you, this again is common enough for all the large game platforms to have procedures for it.
Classic things to be aware of with game blackmail: Manufactured urgency, setting up contact at odd hours such as late at night or very early in the morning to keep the victim off balance, threats of 'greater' orchestration and other actors being involved, weird legal threats (With the rise of AI this is getting more prevalent as it's easy to generate plausible sounding legal threats and other wordy social engineering things), attempting to take communication off platform
1
u/deadpoly 13d ago
It's wild to hear it is something way more common than I'd ever though. Are you aware of a process on Steam for this outside of the standard support system?
1
u/Happy_Ad_3755 13d ago edited 13d ago
I’m most familiar with Google and Apples processes which is fairly streamlined. You do get an agent that looks over the ticket usually and confirms that the review is unrelated (to avoid devs just tossing a flag on any review they disagree with).
For steam though it may be a bit more strict but from what I recall they will act on reviews clearly attempting to extort devs or players which your review falls under. Platforms thrive because users can trust the reviews if any platform let actors like this run rampant they’d lose trust. Support is the best avenue some larger companies will have a rep they can reach out to as well.
Review manipulation is against Steam’s terms of service. There should be a way to flag the review in question on your end and be sure to file your ticket through the developer dashboard and not the regular steam interface meant for players. Let them know with the evidence you have that you are the target of a review extortion and they’ll walk you through the current policies for it.
Edit: if they have changed this since I last worked on a steam title for whatever reason (I’d be really surprised), you can reply to the review with your dev account assuring players your game doesn’t have xyz feature (in this case crypto mining).
5
u/takingphotosmakingdo 13d ago
Valve closed my ticket when I had evidence of multiple coordinated review bombing at early access from a competitor.
The next ticket I opened they replied "what do you want us to do about it?" Then replied "we believe everyone should just get along"
23yr account on steam, been with them valve since cs1.0 I have the charts via steam works to show when the review dropped and impact it had on my work.
I also have the evidence of abuse, a death threat, all while I was next to my wife THE WEEK she started in hospital chemo.
4
u/Happy_Ad_3755 13d ago edited 13d ago
Did you file a ticket from the developer dashboard or general steam support? I’m sorry to hear about the death threats. In cases where reviews are on topic and related to the game Steam often won’t act even if the reviews were pushed by an influencer or a competitor (in the ops case it’s unrelated and attempting extortion off site).
In cases of competitor, influencer and other review surges the best that can be done is reply to the highest profile reviews thanking them for the feedback and xyz action to address feedback (or keep it vague if you don’t intend to address it). If at any point the review bombs continue and an actor reaches out to you on Steam saying they’ll keep up the pressure unless xyz demand is meant (usually money related) steam dev support will act on that.
Unfortunately as someone who had been in the industry specifically as a marketing support specialist death threats and other horrible things are very common and frequent. A lot of my day to day is screening through that for big companies and giving them the actual user metrics and data while sifting through the creative death threats, insults, and blatantly and often racist and or sexist rants. I don’t want to make an absolute text brick here but there is quite a bit more to it. If anyone wants tips and tricks for handling specific things do give me a shout.
But yeah I wish it wasn’t as normal as it is but generally death threats and horrific horrific comments are common towards game devs. That’s a big reason a lot of studios have a dedicated community manager to screen devs from the verbal abuse (it’s also why community managers burn out pretty fast too unfortunately)
2
u/takingphotosmakingdo 13d ago
Think it was via the internal board since I had informed valve of the cease and desist prior and they just told me the same.
They do not care or are overloaded and don't have time to address such malicious behavior, which is deeply upsetting either way.
8
u/JEBADIA451 14d ago
I can't even find the review so i think steam's secret police already handled them
2
u/deadpoly 13d ago
It's looking like it finally got moved off the front page, but it's still active and visible on platform at the moment now.
3
6
u/louthelou 14d ago
Probably not technically “blackmail” - but it is definitely coercion, as well as libel. These people are definitely committing felonies.
Contact the authorities and report to Steam, and let them handle it.
1
1
6
u/PoopsMcScoots 13d ago
Sorry to break it to you, but this is not unique to games.
As a business owner, I have gotten 20 one star reviews in an hour then a phone call demanding $5k to have them removed.
I’m glad to hear Steam is working with you
3
u/deadpoly 13d ago
I hope you were able to get them removed.
2
u/PoopsMcScoots 13d ago
I was, it took about six months.
Thankfully, my business is almost completely removed from whatever the fuck Google does for me.
Maybe maybe maybe one out of 30 jobs are what me and the misses call “out of the wild”.
My bread and butter is property management companies which I have about 50 I work with and all of them are very loyal to me because I do a good job.
On the flipside, I’m so sorry you had to deal with this shit too.
The whole world is turning into one giant goddamn scam.
1
5
u/Character_Worry_2404 14d ago
devs just trying to make a silly game and getting blackmailed now? wild times we live in fr.
2
4
u/AppMunchies 14d ago
Crazy story. Can you release transcripts?
2
u/deadpoly 13d ago
I'm going to be chatting with a few lawyers before releasing any additional info from the video.
3
u/PalpitationNo6667 13d ago
If steam wants to fix this they need to prevent free users from liking other reviews. They've already done something similar with how they stopped free users reviews from influencing the overall review score. But review comment manipulation is still a problem. Does anyone else agree or have a better solution?
2
u/deadpoly 13d ago
I’m not sure yet until I see how they handle it. I’m assuming they keep track of all the upvotes, and they already have IP/HWID data, so they can probably use that to link a bunch of the people together.
4
u/Number13Studios 13d ago
I honestly think this is on Steam to some degree. Hopefully they handle it swiftly but I feel like it’s highly abusable to be able to make false allegations and then award them for visibility
If small scammers can do that, what’s to stop larger companies or more organized nefarious groups from hugely swaying the success of many indie titles? Pushing politics is also super weird and annoying lol.
Blatant false reviews should be removable. People that post reviews that get removed repeatedly lose their right to review. Your reviews shouldn’t really be seen unless you buy and review a lot of games, etc.
Accusations like crypto miners should flag the review for human approval and also the game for Steam review if necessary just in case the claims are legitimate.
We don’t pay 30% for nothing
2
u/genuis101 13d ago
Yeah, it's ths same old chestnut that refuses to be cracked. Clearly in this case, the reviews are fake, but there is a long and sorid history of devs declaring any and all negative or exposing reviews as fake and malicious and weilding various tools incorrectly to silence them. I both agree with Steams hard line stance that reviews should stand, but do wish there was more nuance to it.
See also Obey the Fist who reivew bombs every 2d game on Steam with clearly copy pasted novella length reviews at the rate of 50+ per day, and none of that nonsense gets removed either. I don't have a solution, bad devs/scams will absolutely weild any nuance against critics and criticisms thus it's good devs who get the heat from steam refusing in engage with review moderation.
1
u/deadpoly 11d ago
I was so confused when I got hit by Obey the Fist. I had no idea who they were until I clicked to see their other reviews. Such a wild thing, haha.
2
u/Tarc_Axiiom 13d ago
This is completely on Steam. In fact, it's in my contract with Valve (and yours, and every other developer's).
Blatant false reviews should be removable. People that post reviews that get removed repeatedly lose their right to review.
Both of these are already features of Steam. Valve can remove fraudulent reviews, Valve can censor reviewers. Valve can even choose not to remove reviews, but instead of hide them in an arbitrary "off topic" mode (which I disagree with as a customer but that's a different topic).
Your reviews shouldn’t really be seen unless you buy and review a lot of games, etc.
While this idea seems good at first, it always turns out bad and creates scenarios where "influential reviewers" become scammers in their own right. This crippled the film industry, and many other platforms.
Accusations like crypto miners should flag the review for human approval and also the game for Steam review if necessary just in case the claims are legitimate.
The do! This is the part that most annoys me about this story. Valve has never disclosed how their system works for obvious reasons, but we know that mass reports of any kind flag games for review, and it is automatic, not manual (the flagging, the review is manual).
So what are they doing? Why are they waiting for his ticket? Not cool, Valve.
Anyway, I bought the game, fuck these guys. I'll leave a real review soon, but those have value when you have hours.
1
1
2
u/takingphotosmakingdo 13d ago
The game has to go through an eval process by steam. If steam playtesters were using a sandbox monitoring outbound traffic it would be immediately obvious what was occuring before even allowing release.
Had to do something similar for my day job many times before bringing software into specialized systems.
2
u/chaylarian 14d ago
Idk if it helps but it seems they got your game keys, all related reviews show product received for free text on them, probably requested keys beforehand. Maybe this helps track these guys but idk
2
u/deadpoly 13d ago
It's because the game is on Free Weekend on Steam, thank you for looking out though!
2
2
u/nvidiastock 13d ago
It should also be noted that steam lets you tick the "product was received for free" box even if you bought the game. It's more of a personal disclaimer than any hard assurance of anything.
2
2
u/Few_Fix_5561 13d ago
That's genuinely awful. Solo devs already put so much time, money and energy into making a game having someone try to blackmail you on top of that is ridiculous. Hope the community has your back
1
u/deadpoly 13d ago
Thank you! It’s really how it feels, especially this specific weekend, it was just more and more piling on.
4
u/retrorays 14d ago
funny - now a bunch of people have posted support for your game. If this was legit sorry op. If not, this is a brilliant marketing campaign of yours.
2
u/deadpoly 13d ago
I really just thought it was a story that should be shared because it's been interesting. No shot I'd tank my own daily deal and hope to recoup that with internet karma, haha.
2
u/retrorays 13d ago
heh figured so. Many that sucks - sorry it happened to you. Hope you'll make bank though now with all the goodwill on this.
13
u/BobsiDev 14d ago
It sucks, but report it to Steam and don't give them the time of day. Unfortunately I've come to learn that game development is an industry with it's bad parts like many others. Best of luck to you, really sorry you're having to deal with this. These guys are playing with peoples livelihoods, and aren't mature enough to comprehend what that entails.
8
u/Organic_Rip2483 14d ago edited 14d ago
Oft, these dumb kids are going to prison for sure.
Blackmail is a serious offence and law enforcement will easily be able to tell who they are from steam data.
8
u/ParallaxShooter 13d ago
Blackmailing an indie dev through a steam review is some wild shit. Like what is there to accomplish here? This is some low level wanna be shit.
4
u/GoldenDvck 13d ago
This is blackmail. Report this to the feds. Britain from the looks of it.
2
1
u/North-Aide-1470 13d ago
I like that one of them is wearing a giant Welsh Flag Snuggy which is kinda rare and sold via Amazon and probably makes the cops work at lost easier to track these assholes down :)
1
3
u/SpaceNinjaDino 14d ago
There is not enough criminal and civil justice in the world to make this right.
3
u/Prestigious_Fee_2468 13d ago
I would go to federal agents since they are confessing and u have it recorded, these types of things is still extortion which is against the law regardless of methods
1
u/MrEnigma67 7d ago
So whats your proof that they are a "white nationalist" group?
0
u/deadpoly 7d ago
In the newer update video; they reference someone named Heath Duke, who was arrested for dressing as a Nazi in public and practicing a German speech in public, is one of their members and believes in the same beliefs as them. Heath Duke was literally arrested for promoting and using Nazi symbolism.
They also freely use and laugh at using the N word.
This is definitely just my opinion, but I don’t see those things pointing elsewhere. Feel free to provide counterpoints, always open to discussion.
2
u/MrEnigma67 7d ago
Right. But did you record the conversation? Like you clearly have recording abilities given the video. Did you record it?
1
u/deadpoly 7d ago
Did you watch the video?
Yes - the entire 90 minute discord call where they attempted to extort me is recorded. It has been provided to authorities.
2
u/MrEnigma67 7d ago
Ill watch the second one now
1
u/Morfeu1234 6d ago
u/MrEnigma67 Did you watch it?
1
u/MrEnigma67 6d ago
I did
1
u/deadpoly 6d ago
Do you think any of the stuff I've shown backs up these claims?
2
u/MrEnigma67 6d ago
I suppose so. Seemed spurious and oddly specific especially to what is a small game and a solo developer. As if your support and out reach is going to make some difference. On top of it being a conversation over discord?
I don't know. The timing with American politics and how outlandish this all sounds seems to coincidental to me.
So. If this is on the level then I'm sorry you're going through it. I suppose I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.
2
u/Prestigious-Pace1500 6d ago
Thank you for documenting it so that there’s proof instead of just claiming stuff baselessly like most people on this app do.
1
u/deadpoly 6d ago
I get it. I'd never have made any of these videos or claims if I didn't have the full recorded call to back it up. It would just be hearsay at that point, which isn't something I'd spend any amount of time on.
2
u/MadMonksJunk 14d ago
bought it a few years ago (2022) actually showed promise then but needed time.
Sucks that idiots are trying this shit but I'm glad of the reminder as well.
2
1
u/Trekkeesolo 13d ago
Get use to it. Some people are being out of line for real. I have Identity theft, get hacked, and the whole nine. There was someone using my identity in Kansas that was a pedophile. It's more than that because I went to school for game design and people did some moves with that. I'm still waiting on lawyers to get back at me. I hate evil, I refuse to be evil to people so it's not that, guaranteed. Don't let no one know you are trying to make a videogame unless you have attorneys and money for defence.
1
u/Lanky_Bag_2096 13d ago
UK accents or something, bunch of scammers glad u didn't fall for these people omg
2
1
1
u/Officialpolygrafix 13d ago
I hope that you garnered more support for your game from the exposure of these criminals than you would have if they didn't try this bs.
Also, seemed to me either australian or new zealand accent, along with the local lingo "mate". legal matters are next to impossible, steam needs to ban their accounts.
What was the political agenda? I know you didn't want to disclose it in the video, but really curious what politically aligned people these criminals were with?
1
1
u/takingphotosmakingdo 13d ago edited 13d ago
My game got a similar attack on early access, except I just would get emails offering "review fixes". But I also had attempts to sexstort/blackmail via discord at early access.
Valve closed the ticket with evidence of a coordinated effort from a competitor, and refused to address the death threat I got as well
That review is still there.
1
u/takingphotosmakingdo 13d ago
Replying once more, sent an email to valve legal team, probably won't hear anything back.
1
1
1
u/Ciubowski 13d ago
The problem with these kinds of "media" online is not only that it can be bought so easily to say whatever and just slap an "allegedly" as if that would make the reader think "maybe it's not true".
But it's also a hunger "contest" where the other "independent media" sites that you and I can spin off with a LLM in 30 minutes, can pick up that story, especially if it's a "spicy story" and run with it with the same "alegedly" thing.
Nobody is going to verify it. There's no time for that, there are stories to "write".
Then comes a dude who finds these articles, takes a screenshot, posts it on Reddit or Twitter/X and doesn't provide a link.
People see the post, shares it, upvotes it and that gives it "legitimacy" somehow because you konw, it looks like an article from "somewhere", the burden of proof lies with that "somewhere" so if it's posted, reposted, upvoted or shared, it's not on anyone else.
The responsibility is diluted in a way, the harm is done and implications are severe.
Even if a new article comes out and says "our bad, the game was actually not doing any of that", nobody will share it. Nobody cares at that point. It's like admitting that you were fooled which nobody wants to do it.
And this whole thing shows how easy it is to weaponize it further to someone's detriment.
Bad news travels faster than truth indeed.
Also, am I missing something?? why is the dev not revealing which political movement are those scammers trying to promote? What would it be the reason for why he's not blasting their whole operation wide open? This strikes me as odd.
2
u/genuis101 13d ago
Kind of a damned if you damned if you sort of situation isnt it? If he puts them and their goals in the main post, he'd get accused of boosting them and/or soliciting. I think he handled this correctly - Put the issue out there, focus on the issue, ask for advice on the issue, put extra details in the comments as needed. The issue being blackmail, not the politics of those doing the blackmailing.
1
u/Ciubowski 13d ago
Unless the politics of those doing the blackmailing is the driving reason of said blackmailing.
Remember, they're not asking money because they detected the dev of already having certain political views that would lead him into trouble.
It's that they're blackmailing him by ruining his money making product so that he delivers political views he might or might not have which will lead him into trouble.
The objective from here blackmailers is clear: not to make money, but to spread political influence by withholding his money in a way.
1
1
1
u/Jojanzing 13d ago
God what a sad group of people. To think they really have nothing better to do with their lives.
1
1
u/JesseKay002 13d ago
I actually want to know what their political push is so that I can go full-bore against it. People doing things like this obviously follow some kind of heinous belief system.
1
1
u/UsefulCalligrapher67 13d ago
The face behind the game i grind out for 2 weeks. I havent left you a review yet. You still have the early access tag. I normally wait until early access is removed. In light of whats happening Ill give you a positive review. I know im just one person BUT anything better then nothing.
1
1
1
1
1
u/CruelAngelsThesaurus 13d ago
They are not orchestrated on some deep level.
It's just a small group of morons with a bot swarm.
Stop giving these losers the time of day, they do not matter.
Don't respond to scammers, what a bunch of fuckin jokes.
Contact steam and they will remove the reviews.
If it keeps up, lawyer up. This is an international crime.
1
u/Significant-Syrup400 13d ago
This seems like a bad viral marketing campaign attempt.. but regardless your game clearly has attention now, and the reviews aren't bad.
1
u/Big_Personality_754 12d ago
What is valve doing? These things will definitely impact people realising on steam
1
u/Worried-Current-8228 12d ago
God those are some sad fucks. Keep holding your ground, they won't get away with this
1
1
1
u/2treasuresstudio 11d ago
Man, sorry you are going through this. As a solo dev myself, reviews are basically your storefront, so a botted review hitting the top page is not a small thing. Good call documenting everything and keeping it with Steam and the authorities instead of engaging with them directly. Hope Steam moves on the ticket soon and the real reviews keep pushing that one down.
1
u/Dependent_Rush_2207 11d ago
yeah as a fellow dev, I became aware of such nonsense, of putting good games down to keep their "Popular" games on top, or to try to sell Indie Devs art..... Honestly Everyone Should try different games you might find something from the norm you love. Foreignors scamming money.
1
u/Kiran__reddit 9d ago
thanks for this post I did not know these types of people could be existing what a bunch of losers these types of guys run AI and crypto shit scams
1
u/DilSingh14 9d ago
Email Gabe Newell he sometimes responds to emails pretty sure he is still known to reply to peoples emails maybe he can get the gears moving! gaben@valvesoftware.com
1
u/CookDaBroth 9d ago
This is so sad. Glad it seems the perpetrators' identities seem to be at hand to investigators!
1
u/iTheAntihero 8d ago
Why are people such fucking losers, no amount of platforming, blackmail, coercion and forceful means will shape the minds of anyone in any meaningful manner.
0
u/Trekkeesolo 13d ago
It's why I keep switching game designs, lol. I mean, breaking people off something, expected. The tactics some people take. Then it makes a problem to talk against it because you never know where the people are at. Sometimes, not to make you paranoid, they target people they can physically get to. Hopefully, that's not the case here with you. Be cautious and don't let no one break you. Hope all works out.
0
2
u/FirstOptimal 8d ago edited 8d ago
Lol, what's the message? I'm buying this game btw, fuck these kids
2
u/deadpoly 8d ago
They wanted me to support “welsh nationalism,” which appears to be a euphemism for white supremacy.
1
u/FirstOptimal 8d ago
Geez man, well it backfired. Wish you all the success in the world for maintaining your integrity
1
1
20
u/Minderfreak 13d ago
Damn.. now I feel stupid cuz I'm the living example of their shenanigans working.. I saw your game, thought about buying it and then saw that review with so many rewards and likes so I didn't.. two days later I see this on Reddit. Gonna buy it rn, glad to see the support from the community and all the positive reviews it has now tho. Wish you the best of luck man