14 DAY TRIAL // The Steam digital distribution service has dropped a game called Paranautical Activity from its line-up after the developer has launched a death threat joke against Gabe Newell, the leader of Valve, even if he later apologized for his message and made it clear that it was only a joke.
Mike Maulbeck, the game creator, says that he was annoyed by the fact that his game was still listed as being in Early Access despite the fact that it was live on the service, which would have led to confusion among players and smaller than expected sales.
The developer explains that “This being a project I spent years of my life on, I was very frustrated by this mistake made, so I tweeted a series of tweets calling them incompetent that eventually ended in me saying ‘I swear I'm gonna [expletive] kill gabe’ or something.”
Maulbeck makes it clear that he did not mean the statement and was simply venting his frustration.
Soon after, his video game was eliminated from Steam, and it seems that there’s no way for the decision to be reversed at the moment.
The game creator has since launched a barrage of attacks against Valve via his official Twitter account and has called them incompetent and a monopoly for their reaction.
There are plenty of gamers who, while condemning his initial message, are saying that the reaction has been over the top and that Paranautical Activity needs to be reinstated.
The Steam administration account that Maulbeck had as a developer is gone and Valve says that any contact between them is now terminated.
Steam as a monopoly and the power of social media
The case is a clear example of how easy access to social media can make it a little too easy for users to express their frustration in ways that should be reconsidered.
It’s clear that Maulbeck should have thought more carefully about the messages he posted, especially given that he depends on Steam as an indie game creator.
At the same time, Valve might have been a little too harsh with its own reaction and many users might see it as a company which needs to be more careful about the way it wields its considerable power in the PC gaming space.
At the moment, Paranautical Activity is still offered on the Humble Store and on the Desura service, and Maulbeck says that he is already working on another project, which will probably also have no chance of getting on Steam when it is finished.
Don't worry guys, everything is gonna be OK, we sold TWELVE copies on non-steam platforms today!!!!!! :D :D :D
— Mike Murderbeck (@SpooderW) October 20, 2014