Man, I don't want to be 'that person', but when I read this "We're...", I instantly thought it’s as if you want to give yourself more importance here than you actually have. And not that you think of some game threads somewhere else.

"We" had a discussion about it over on the Atomic Games threads about his banning etc.

I belive the money is what rule here again. If something shaddy, but dont pull a big scandal then Valve let it run because it made them profit. They "look away".

We?

We're a little confounded by this too... I can't see how it should be allowed for a developer to deliberately blank their publisher and developer names.

This is not because the game was removed; Atomic Fabrik deliberately blanked the developer and publisher names to save the game from being banned when all of his other games were. Most of the rest of them transferred to the Gamesforgames account and still exist on Steam... despite being nasty asset flips, Valve lets them remain on Steam.

I see, thanks @Obey.
Is the game have no Dev/Pub listed cus they are banned? Strange that their games not banned with them. I never seen any games without Dev listed.

Thanks Nosteru.. the best place to report these is in the Discussion Forums. You are correct in that this is from a known shady and unethical developer, Atomic Fabrik. Valve has banned this developer so he's pushed many of his games around to other accounts and mostly operates under "Gamesforgames".

I want to Report a game also a Dev with shaddy stuffs. I dont know if this forum is the right place for it.

Chef Survivor
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2506780/Chef_Survivor/

and here is my original review about the game:
"This game is very suspicious. Look like a scam try. The game had 1 Euro price what suddenly increased to 40 Euro. It have almost only Positive reviews, many on same days with mostly low gameplay time. Meanwhile SteamDB show that peak time player maximum was only 1. Look like multiple account review. Also strangely they removed Developer and Publisher (it was Atomic Fabrik) around the time of price increase."
I dont understand how a game can have no developer or publisher listed at all.
Atomic Fabrik had alot very shaddy games in the past too.

Yeah, gonna + the "don't buy from key resellers" answer. I haven't been scammed because I refuse to be scammed by them.

What do you mean?
Their support contact is via their email.
Make sure you have the purchase receipt in your email and send that to their support email and they will be able to help you.

Jumping on here before you've even contacted their support is dumb, go through the official channels and if they won't help you out then we will look into it.

IF you had contacted their support email and attempted to resolve it with them then I'd be willing to look into it further.

Not even sent any email for DRM free game bundles, "We removing this now".

They deleting bundle history no reason anyways. Email warning is not legal.

Their Discord is an alternative to their email for less serious issues.

We aren't Indiegala
However their main support link is their email address via https://docs.indiegala.com/support/contacts.html

Contact them at support@indiegala.com

Cannot find my recent bundle purchases on indiegala. Never told, profile link gets revoken. Last time bought some DRM free games, now they are gone. Scammer store too.

Their support linking to Discord. More dodgy by indiegala.

Thanks, Mellow!

Hi @Amberbaum!

If your main concern is around the game’s anti-cheat system and what data may be transmitted when the game goes online, that would be better suited to the Fraudulent Activity / Scams sub-forum.

https://v1.steam.hlxgame.cc/groups/Sentinels_of_the_Store/discussions/22/

That section covers potential consumer-facing risks, including undisclosed data collection, intrusive software behaviour, or misleading implementation practices.

Appreciate you flagging it - just want to make sure it lands in the most appropriate section for visibility and discussion.

It's not on itch, but I think it had an alpha test phase. Still, the reviews aren't even the worst. I'm more worried about their anti-cheat and what the game sends back to somewhere.

It's also worth considering that a lot of people will review games after an hour or two of gametime to make sure their reviews are the first ones posted. Typically, it was a means of points farming, and I think a lot of people haven't caught on to the fact that you can't points farm any longer, lol.

Then again, there could also be paid reviews. Just offering some alternatives that should be explored as well.

Was it previously made available to backers or on Itch.io or somesuch?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2966320/Starsand_Island/

Not sure if this is the right place to post it. Starsand Island has officially launched in early access. Their policies and anti-cheat are less then desirable. Game store got suddenly flooded by reviews after having no reviews. Reviewers barely played at all and say meaningless stuff in their reviews. Probably got pushed by the official discord to flood the store with positive reviews.

This thread in the forum is investigating what is being send and to whom when the game goes online. Start off from this marked comment and read further.


https://v1.steam.hlxgame.cc/app/2966320/discussions/0/762932162500560014/?ctp=14#c756177397086207505

Really strong article from Oreate AI on censorship and information control on Steam.

It captures something that often gets lost in these discussions: censorship isn’t always loud bans or obvious takedowns - it’s disappearing threads, revoked keys, flagged reviews, and erased conversations that leave no public trace.

That’s exactly why documentation matters. When discussions are removed, having an external record of what was taken down and why becomes essential for transparency and accountability - which Oreate AI kindly lists our group Sentinels of the Store as a great resource for that.

Well-argued, thoughtful, and an important contribution to the wider conversation around platform power and developer moderation practices.

https://www.oreateai.com/blog/when-the-digital-doors-slam-shut-navigating-censorship-on-steam/cd2c43b1656dec1259e6c494447deaf9

@BiggestWeed That kind of language and behaviour is not tolerated in this group, regardless of context or disagreement.

You have been temporarily banned for 3 days as a result.

Criticism, disagreement, and debate are fine. Personal insults and harassment are not. Continued behaviour of this nature will result in further moderation action.

Imagine being a fat ♥♥♥♥♥ lmao

Imagine having a crashout for a negative review.

Please refer back to my earlier comment posted before the Steamworks Partner documentation link, as you’re repeating points already addressed there. In particular, these are not “my” reviews - this concerns a different user entirely. Specifics matter.

The Steamworks Partner documentation applies specifically to developers, due to the financial relationship with Valve. Standards for community members exist separately under Steam’s Terms of Service.

If Obey the Fist has artificially inflated playtime, I agree that’s not a good look. However, I can’t take responsibility for the actions of 4,000+ independent members, and this review was made independently of any group direction.

Separately, regardless of your view of the review, responding as a developer with personal or provocative remarks is exactly the type of conduct Valve advises developers not to engage in.

If you believe the review breaches Steam rules, report it to Valve via the official tools.

Try reading the entirety of the article you linked and not just the part your group copy pastes every time a developer gives you pushback on your reviews.

"User reviews give players an opportunity to share their experience with the games they've PLAYED
Do not direct ABUSE or INSULTS at other players, DEVELOPERS, or groups.
Do not ARTIFICIALLY INFLUENCE review scores."

The problem is this person is LYING about playing games and says YOUR GROUP is his main inspiration AND he is not the only person doing it from this group.

Do a little house cleaning of your community and reach out to people like this and tell them it directly goes against your mission statement.

"We envision a Steam community where developers are respected and supported."

The fact that in all that nonsense you typed you didn't once acknowledge that what he's doing is wrong only proves that this was the exact place that all of this needed to be brought up.

Please read up here regarding Steamworks documentation on user reviews: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/reviews

@BiggestWeed

A few points need correcting.

1) Discussions are not locked
The majority of this group’s forums are open to all members. Only our News / rules / important information section and reported posts section are restricted.

2) Obey the Fist is not group staff
You’ve repeatedly implied OtF is staff or acting on our behalf. That’s not accurate. Our staff list is publicly visible below this comment section.

3) Reviews are written by individuals
Group membership does not mean we control, coordinate, or endorse reviews. We don’t run bots or assign targets.

4) Your developer response to OtF's review crosses Valve’s guidance
Steam’s developer guidelines make clear that responses should not argue with, provoke, or escalate disputes with reviewers.

If you believe a review breaches Steam rules, report it via Valve’s tools. I’d also strongly recommend editing your developer response to remove the personal content and de-escalate.

Ah I see what you're talking about now

@big always check other topic areas
https://v1.steam.hlxgame.cc/groups/Sentinels_of_the_Store/discussions/28/
this one you can make a topic in other section, some are for mod admin only to make threads

I subscribed to the forum but all I see is "Posting privileges: Only group moderators and officers are allowed to post in this forum."
Either I'm blind or I'm unable to make a thread myself.

I don't intend to gunk anything here up I just have no other way of posting.

The suggestion was accompanied by something silly. Speaking of which, we're now six more comments closer to doom!

i did not comment to complain.....
i commented to make a suggestion
thats all dont need it being something bigger

Again, 20 comments aren't going to make or break anything. And if they did, that means the forum was going to break pretty soon anyway.

As to the rest, the dude probably wouldn't want his thoughts hidden away in aa random thread nobody sees. For good or bad, it seems like a relevant back and forth regarding the potential abuse of a system on Steam. And maybe it will help OtF as well. Who knows?

well eventually the limit will be hit then no further comments will be able to be made
ive seen profiles hitting max, may be year or few before a group hits max but it still will

plus forums are better suited for most things then comments
i know not the word hyperbolic? but if were using words, well some would consider 20 comments as spam, just saying what others might see

I don't think 20 comments are gonna break the site. Let's not be hyperbolic.

wow this surely should have been moved to a thread earlier on
then it could be upkept easier and not fall behind in topics
plus steam does have a comment limit which will eventually hit

He's updated his review
"The developer has started a campaign of stalking and harassment"

He read all of this and hasn't responded, it's pretty obvious at this point he's going to keep strong on whatever crusade he's on.

I reported him for botting and abusing the system which he's clearly doing but I guess we'll see what happens.

If you do know him personally in any capacity I'd reach out and see if he's alright. There's no way this can be healthy for a normal human.

"But anyway, hopefully things get sorted out in a positive manner. I'll be curious to see how things shake out."

I appreciate that. Honestly my game was a complete and utter bust from the start so his review really makes no impact on me whatsoever. I just find it unfair to think other people are out there getting hate reviews for no reason and wanted to try and address it.

Every member can use the discussion forum. I have a thread on there as well.

There is probably a mod only section, but the majority of the discussion categories are open to everyone.

I'm not personally defending his reviews and I get the frustration when comments are shut down in reviews and you can't actually have normal discourse. Like I said, I'd like to see real examples of things experienced in games mentioned AND screenshots when possible in people's reviews. To me, those things help validate reviews. Whereas canned paragraphs copy/pasted and maybe tweaked a little, used over and over don't really impress me as being the epitome of legitimacy.


But anyway, hopefully things get sorted out in a positive manner. I'll be curious to see how things shake out.

Also he has posting privileges on this groups discussion forum which is restricted "Only group moderators and officers are allowed to post in this forum."

So clearly he's not as much of a rando as you're trying to play him as.

He sites it on his profile as his favorite group and just looking through here seems to be extremely active in this comment section.

You're right though, I shouldn't have accused the whole group and when you started defending him it made me feel as though the community at large is in support of him which is obviously not logically congruent.

I do know that he will in fact see what I'm saying here and as I cannot message him through Steam directly and my developer response is only met with more AI generated hate it feels as good as an avenue as any to express to him my disapproval in his actions.

People are members of a lot of groups. Membership in a group isn't the group's endorsement of its members, lol. Did he cite this group in his review? That would change the dynamic of your claim. Seems unlikely though since his reviews are exclusively his own.

Which is a point you seem to be missing. Did you post to the other groups he is in with the same complaints?

I mean, you could, in addition to leaving developer notes, report alleged SAM usage or whatever you think his improprieties are. Steam does prioritize developer concerns over member concerns.

What you're doing here though isn't helping you. If you had instead simply said something to the effect of, "I believe this member of your group is using SAMs to fake playtime and achievements, and bots to do "xyz", and I thought I'd let you know", this entire conversation would never have happened. Instead, you accused the group because a person happens to be a member of it.

It's crazy that you can't even admit that it's wrong to do that and instead choose to hyper fixate on me.

Whether he holds some official title or not you guys really need to do some house cleaning as his reviews go 100% against your groups mission statement when he starts blatantly lying and calling people "arrogant egomaniac" and thieves in game reviews for stuff he hasn't played.

Also it's super extra crazy to praise him for "And his work uncovering review farms" when he himself is obviously a review farm.

I could care less about how my game reviews big dog, it's free, if you want to play it you can, if not you don't have to, you know the guy by name and he's clearly very involved with your group.

You group has people in it that are harassing developers, lying about their games and lying about playing their games and you seem to be on very close terms with them since you can't seem to stop defending them even when you admit they're lying.

It's very simple, stop pretending to play games that you haven't.

Just to be clear, however OtF goes about reviewing and whatever he doing in the pursuit of that has zero to do with this group. You were asserting the opposite. I've corrected you and given you good advice as to how you should properly deal with your concerns.

If you have an issue with Unreal assets, bad games, poor sales, whatever, I'm totally fine with that but if you're abusing the system to pretend you've played games you haven't then you are just as much a problem as the developers you hate.

You're combining two separate things.

Using bots to do whatever isn't the same thing as being a "bot account" for this group. This group definitely doesn't do that. It's counter to the group's whole existence. And OtF isn't a mod or admin or anything for this group.

You're kinda just lashing out when you could be stating your case on his review for all to see.