The developers of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. had a 19-year-old, mostly solo dev’s game removed from Valve’s platform.

On Friday, the developer of a co-op survival horror shooter called Misery posted on Steam under the title “We are under attack!” accompanied by a crying-cat image. Following a DMCA complaint initiated by S.T.A.L.K.E.R. creator GSC Game World, the game was removed from Steam. The post includes screenshots of emails sent by Valve to Maewing, the 19-year-old developer working largely alone, and to Ytopia, Misery’s publisher.

GSC Game World reported Misery for using the studio’s content without permission and attached images showing similar scenes from both games, including two where a group of survivors with scavenged gear and gas masks play guitars around a campfire. The email notes the screenshots are illustrative only and do not reflect all allegedly infringing elements, though one might expect GSC Game World to provide more conclusive proof than a few scenes that, while superficially similar, do not appear to reuse the same models or textures.

“We do not pose any threat to GSC or their IP. We do not compete with their games nor use any of their IP. Of course, Misery was inspired by many things, including games, movies, and books. However, filing a DMCA strike for that is wrong. We also want to remind GSC that their games draw heavily from Roadside Picnic and Tarkovsky’s Stalker, and they do not own the copyright to depressive Soviet-era buildings, guitars, vodka, radiation, abandoned locations, or poop. Misery uses no characters, plot, storyline, assets, monsters, music, code, etc., from their games. It is all either originally created or legally licensed. We also believe this is an abuse of power by a large corporation against small independent developers, and it should not happen,” the Steam post says.

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Maewing initially struck a much harsher tone on Discord, partially distorting GSC’s name in a homophobic way and still referring to the studio as GSK, but later edited the message: “After the DMCA strike, some people found my old posts and comments that included inappropriate and offensive statements. Many are rightfully upset, and I completely understand why. First, I want to acknowledge and take full responsibility for my past words. What I wrote was immature, thoughtless, and wrong. They do not represent who I am today or what I believe in, and I deeply regret posting them. I do not support any form of extremism, violence, or discrimination against any group of people. I value and respect our players and friends from all countries and backgrounds. Regarding the DMCA strike, we will handle it calmly and professionally. There is no basis for it, and I believe Valve will review the situation fairly.”

Some users on the Stalker subreddit speculate the takedown happened because Misery’s developers support Russia’s war against Ukraine. It appears Misery’s Discord was thoroughly cleaned after the DMCA request, and according to Maewing’s new comment, inflammatory speech related to the conflict will lead to immediate bans. If someone spams Z’s, ZOVs, or any Ukrainian symbols or swastikas in reactions or messages, they will be banned without hesitation.

Source: PCGamer, Steam