Two Games Pretended to Be Helldivers 2 in Sneaky Steam Page Scam | Push Square

pushsquare.com:

Well, we’ve never heard this one before. A pair of games on PC storefront Steam disguised themselves as Helldivers 2 to hoodwink users into buying them.

Earlier today, the Steam pages for two indie titles — namely Figurality by SoleOnBoard Studio and Do Not Smile by Whitehole Games — were heavily edited to ape the page for the popular co-op shooter. All their metadata was changed, including game title, description, publisher and developer information, and screenshots. The result was that there appeared to be three almost identical Steam listings for Helldivers 2.

The only ways to tell the difference were the number of reviews, which was much lower for the imitators than the real deal, and the release dates. The fakes were also priced cheaper than the real game, potentially fooling people into thinking they were getting a bargain.

Fortunately, the culprits were discovered, and have since been delisted. Apparently, the two game pages were edited at the same time, suggesting one person or team was responsible for both.

It’s a scam we’ve never seen before, though we suppose it’s possible it has happened and just never been called out. The incident has raised concerns about the fact it’s even possible to do this; amending a game’s publisher and developer name in particular seems like it should be better monitored, or more controlled.

Anyway, hopefully this didn’t catch out too many people, though we suppose anyone who did mistakenly buy a copycat could claim a refund through Steam at least. Did you fall victim to this bizarre scam? Discuss in the comments section below.

Stephen has been part of the Push Square team for over six years, bringing boundless enthusiasm and a deep knowledge of video games to his role as Assistant Editor. Having grown up playing every PlayStation console to date, he's developed an eclectic taste, with particular passion for indie games, arcade racers, and puzzlers. He's also our go-to guy for Sonic-related matters, much to his delight/chagrin.