Dramatic things are happening on Steam around the construction game Workers & Resources. The indie title revolves around the planned economy under communism and is clearly in the niche, but has been able to develop a small, loyal fan community. We recently rated the game very well in a test:
more on the subject
Test: Workers and Resources ist das Anti-Anno
Slovakian developer 3Division is now announcing on Steam that their game has been removed from Steam due to complaints regarding the US law DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act). The reason they give is a player who uses his knowledge as a lawyer to harm the developers.
In case you’re wondering which game it’s about, here’s a trailer:
2:32
The trailer for Workers & Resources introduces the unusual construction game
Offended fan vs. studio
Im Blogpost the developers are stunned that their game can no longer be offered for sale. Blame it on a player who wrote guides to Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic, which should make the game more realistic.
3Division is now working on a realism mode for their game. According to the studio, the former fan, who is also said to be a lawyer, accuses the developers of stealing his ideas.
In revenge, the person is said to have carried out unlawful strikes on YouTube to have videos by an influencer of the game removed from the platform. In addition, a DMCA complaint has now caused Valve to remove Workers & Resources from Steam. According to the current status, the build-up game no longer appears in the Shop up, only owners can continue to access it.
3Division complains that the company (and Valve) are now threatened with losses. They also accuse the person of abusing the DMCA and counting on the opponent to cave in, since many of those affected would shy away from the legal costs.
At least the developers state that they are in contact with Valve to solve the problem as soon as possible. In any case, it is not the first case of legal disputes on Steam:
Sinking City bei Steam
“Stolen and illegally uploaded” according to developers
Why is this even happening?
Valve has a history of withdrawing products from sale, including when copyright violations were reported. However, YouTube strikes are often enforced by automated systems (bots) before human legitimacy is verified.
Both providers want to protect themselves from being liable to prosecution if they host or sell copyrighted media without the consent of the rights holder.
The DMCA has regularly ensured since its inception criticism, because it sometimes happens that it is misused as a means of censorship or to hinder competitors. In this case, it is to be hoped that the situation will quickly resolve for those affected.
