Indie city builder removed from Steam after angry fan claims ownership of a game mode
Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic(opens in new tab) is a niche, hardcore city-builder that's actually really good if you're into that sort of thing—«that sort of thing» being management games and workers' states. Unfortunately for anyone curious but uncommitted, it's no longer available for purchase on Steam because of a very strange DMCA takedown request filed by an angry fan.
In a "special report for the community(opens in new tab)," developer 3Division said the fan, formerly a «respected member of our community,» believes the idea for a "realistic mode(opens in new tab)" added in December 2022 was his, and is angry that he isn't credited accordingly. The studio said it would have added him to the credits, along with other contributors, after the game was complete, but before that could happen the fan began making legal threats and issuing copyright strikes on YouTube against a popular Workers and Resources influencer.
«As he chose to use extortion and abuse, we became angry about this, and decided to never mention the name of the challenge he allegedly 'invented' again, and ignore him,» 3Division wrote.
An understandable reaction—but instead of blowing over, the situation got worse, and the fan now claims that he actually owns the rights to Workers and Resources' realistic mode.
«This guy reported our website, and the website was taken down,» 3Division wrote. «He also reported our video about the last content update where realistic mode was introduced, and the video was taken down.» The studio said the takedowns were successful because they're handled through an automated process, and it expects to get the content returned once it's able to deal with actual people.
The message includes a link to the fan's
Read more on pcgamer.com
