Top 10 Controversial Games Removed from Steam
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Top 10 Controversial Games Removed from Steam
Some games just don’t belong on a store shelf, be it physical or digital. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today, we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Controversial Games Removed from Steam.
For this list, we’re looking at a handful games that had so many problems, they were forced to be pulled from the Steam store pages. Keep in mind we’re only considering games that have had official releases. So, “Active Shooter” escapes the list by the skin of its teeth.
After hearing about this little incident, we’ve grown a little more cautious of buying cheap games. “Abstractism” was a simple platformer that aimed to market towards players looking for an easy game. On the contrary, there was more inside of the game’s files. Turns out the game was a part of a scheme to turn players’ computers into cryptocurrency mines, designed to scam players with fake DLC for other games. Developer Okalo Union tried passing these files off as necessities to start the game, but this wasn’t fooling anybody, and the game was swiftly delisted minutes after the news broke.
Just because it’s a joke played out by thousands doesn’t mean you can make a game of it, especially if the joke involves a copyrighted character. In November 2017, a developer by the name of “Ata Berdyev” uploaded a beat ‘em up game called “Piccled Ricc”, piggybacking off of the Pickle Rick joke from a certain sci-fi cartoon. Despite getting attention from some big-named YouTubers, Berdyev was quickly given a notice from Steam that his game was to be removed due to copyright infringement. Berdyev argued that the game fell under fair use, claiming the game was “a parody”. Regardless, the game was taken down.
Rarely has there been a time where a game is so bad that the publisher has to pull the game themselves, such as the case with EA’s action-RPG “Darkspore”. When the game launched, it was plagued with bugs that would cause players to lose their saved characters, that is if you could even log in. Oh, and did we mention the game required a constant online connection? Just like “SimCity”... Two years after release, EA finally announced it would be delisting the game from Steam while assuring fans it would return sometime in the future. Spoiler alert - it hasn’t.
This was perhaps Bond’s worst outing since the Timothy Dalton days… In an effort to ride the coattails of “GoldenEye’s” successful remaster, Activision released “007 Legends”, and it was nothing more than a highlights reel of iconic Bond moments albeit in the form of a terrible video game. Combat was unbelievably boring and tedious, and the entire experience was about as shoddy as “Die Another Day”. Could you believe they wanted to charge sixty dollars for this? Activision released no statement on the game’s removal, which led many to believe the game’s failure caused the publisher to delist all 007 games from Steam. It’s a plausible theory that may not be confirmed for a long time.
Steam Greenlight wasn’t exactly a great platform for indie developers, and it was easy to exploit some of the flaws in the system. For example, users could upload as many games they wanted to without any fees or consequences. One such convict of this deed was a puzzle game called “Raccoon Hero”. Within two weeks of the first game, “Raccoon Hero” spawned four sequels, adding to the already massive flood of horrendous games clogging Steam. It was also found out for being an asset flip. Basically, this was a game that was copied and pasted.
Even though it’s been five years, we’re still shaking our heads. “Ride to Hell: Retribution” was one of the worst games of 2013, and for good reason. Just look at this footage! Bugs, bugs, bugs, bugs, awkward sex scene, bugs, bugs, bugs, another awkward sex scene, and the cycle continues. Publisher Deep Silver never released an official statement for its removal, but we can only assume one thing; no one was buying it because everyone knew how awful it was, and it wasn’t even laughably bad.
It’s not often that you’ll come across an MMORPG that looks surprisingly solid, which is what makes this all the more disappointing. The game wasn’t pulled because of being abysmal in quality or suffering technical issues, nothing as damning as some of the other entries on this list. Instead, it was pulled because developer Insel Games was caught manipulating review scores. Employees of Insel Games were asked by their CEO in an email to buy the game and post positive review scores on Steam, or else they may not have a job. When the news broke, Steam terminated Insel Games’s Steam account and removed “Wild Buster” from the store. What a shame…
And here we have one of the most infamous games to ever disgrace the platform! After the late John Bain (aka “TotalBiscuit”) criticized “Day One: Garry’s Incident” for its buggy state and terrible quality, developer Wild Games Studio filed a DMCA takedown on the video in an effort to silence him. This did the exact opposite, prompting Bain to upload another video showing the takedown while delivering more criticism. The public outcry that followed would force Wild Games to retract the takedown. Soon after this incident, Wild Games was caught manipulating the game’s score on Metacritic via fake accounts. No statement was made on the game’s removal, but these scandals were probably its undoing.
“Paranautical Activity” may be available to purchase, but for a time, the game was removed, and it was because of a few venomous tweets. After its October 2014 launch, the game’s lead developer Mike Maulbeck became frustrated with Valve for mislabeling the game under Early Access. Amidst his frustration, he posted a series of angry tweets towards Valve, including a death threat against Valve CEO Gabe Newell. You can guess what happened next. “Paranautical Activity” was sold to a different developer, Digerati, who would add more to the game before releasing it to the public again in February 2015. Since the incident, Maulbeck has expressed regret in his actions.
Digital Homicide hasn’t become just a joke among Steam user; they’re the laughingstock of the games industry. Throughout the company’s two-year lifespan, founders James and Robert Romine shelled out dozens and dozens of games, ranging from absolutely broken and sloppily cobbled together to outright offensive and juvenile content. The company would soon crumble from their inability to take criticism. During their infamous lawsuit against Jim Sterling, the Romines attempted to sue over one hundred Steam users on grounds of personal injury over negative comments. Steam promptly responded by taking down their entire catalog and terminating their account, and since October 2016, the company is no more. Thank God for Jim Sterling!
Some games just don’t belong on a store shelf, be it physical or digital. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today, we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Controversial Games Removed from Steam.
For this list, we’re looking at a handful games that had so many problems, they were forced to be pulled from the Steam store pages. Keep in mind we’re only considering games that have had official releases. So, “Active Shooter” escapes the list by the skin of its teeth.
#10: “Abstractism” (2018)
After hearing about this little incident, we’ve grown a little more cautious of buying cheap games. “Abstractism” was a simple platformer that aimed to market towards players looking for an easy game. On the contrary, there was more inside of the game’s files. Turns out the game was a part of a scheme to turn players’ computers into cryptocurrency mines, designed to scam players with fake DLC for other games. Developer Okalo Union tried passing these files off as necessities to start the game, but this wasn’t fooling anybody, and the game was swiftly delisted minutes after the news broke.
#9: “Piccled Ricc”
Just because it’s a joke played out by thousands doesn’t mean you can make a game of it, especially if the joke involves a copyrighted character. In November 2017, a developer by the name of “Ata Berdyev” uploaded a beat ‘em up game called “Piccled Ricc”, piggybacking off of the Pickle Rick joke from a certain sci-fi cartoon. Despite getting attention from some big-named YouTubers, Berdyev was quickly given a notice from Steam that his game was to be removed due to copyright infringement. Berdyev argued that the game fell under fair use, claiming the game was “a parody”. Regardless, the game was taken down.
#8: “Darkspore” (2011)
Rarely has there been a time where a game is so bad that the publisher has to pull the game themselves, such as the case with EA’s action-RPG “Darkspore”. When the game launched, it was plagued with bugs that would cause players to lose their saved characters, that is if you could even log in. Oh, and did we mention the game required a constant online connection? Just like “SimCity”... Two years after release, EA finally announced it would be delisting the game from Steam while assuring fans it would return sometime in the future. Spoiler alert - it hasn’t.
#7: “007 Legends” (2012)
This was perhaps Bond’s worst outing since the Timothy Dalton days… In an effort to ride the coattails of “GoldenEye’s” successful remaster, Activision released “007 Legends”, and it was nothing more than a highlights reel of iconic Bond moments albeit in the form of a terrible video game. Combat was unbelievably boring and tedious, and the entire experience was about as shoddy as “Die Another Day”. Could you believe they wanted to charge sixty dollars for this? Activision released no statement on the game’s removal, which led many to believe the game’s failure caused the publisher to delist all 007 games from Steam. It’s a plausible theory that may not be confirmed for a long time.
#6: “Raccoon Hero” (2017)
Steam Greenlight wasn’t exactly a great platform for indie developers, and it was easy to exploit some of the flaws in the system. For example, users could upload as many games they wanted to without any fees or consequences. One such convict of this deed was a puzzle game called “Raccoon Hero”. Within two weeks of the first game, “Raccoon Hero” spawned four sequels, adding to the already massive flood of horrendous games clogging Steam. It was also found out for being an asset flip. Basically, this was a game that was copied and pasted.
#5: “Ride to Hell: Retribution” (2013)
Even though it’s been five years, we’re still shaking our heads. “Ride to Hell: Retribution” was one of the worst games of 2013, and for good reason. Just look at this footage! Bugs, bugs, bugs, bugs, awkward sex scene, bugs, bugs, bugs, another awkward sex scene, and the cycle continues. Publisher Deep Silver never released an official statement for its removal, but we can only assume one thing; no one was buying it because everyone knew how awful it was, and it wasn’t even laughably bad.
#4: “Wild Buster: Heroes of Titan” (2017)
It’s not often that you’ll come across an MMORPG that looks surprisingly solid, which is what makes this all the more disappointing. The game wasn’t pulled because of being abysmal in quality or suffering technical issues, nothing as damning as some of the other entries on this list. Instead, it was pulled because developer Insel Games was caught manipulating review scores. Employees of Insel Games were asked by their CEO in an email to buy the game and post positive review scores on Steam, or else they may not have a job. When the news broke, Steam terminated Insel Games’s Steam account and removed “Wild Buster” from the store. What a shame…
#3: “Day One: Garry’s Incident” (2013)
And here we have one of the most infamous games to ever disgrace the platform! After the late John Bain (aka “TotalBiscuit”) criticized “Day One: Garry’s Incident” for its buggy state and terrible quality, developer Wild Games Studio filed a DMCA takedown on the video in an effort to silence him. This did the exact opposite, prompting Bain to upload another video showing the takedown while delivering more criticism. The public outcry that followed would force Wild Games to retract the takedown. Soon after this incident, Wild Games was caught manipulating the game’s score on Metacritic via fake accounts. No statement was made on the game’s removal, but these scandals were probably its undoing.
#2: “Paranautical Activity” (2014)
“Paranautical Activity” may be available to purchase, but for a time, the game was removed, and it was because of a few venomous tweets. After its October 2014 launch, the game’s lead developer Mike Maulbeck became frustrated with Valve for mislabeling the game under Early Access. Amidst his frustration, he posted a series of angry tweets towards Valve, including a death threat against Valve CEO Gabe Newell. You can guess what happened next. “Paranautical Activity” was sold to a different developer, Digerati, who would add more to the game before releasing it to the public again in February 2015. Since the incident, Maulbeck has expressed regret in his actions.
#1: Anything Made by Digital Homicide (2014-16)
Digital Homicide hasn’t become just a joke among Steam user; they’re the laughingstock of the games industry. Throughout the company’s two-year lifespan, founders James and Robert Romine shelled out dozens and dozens of games, ranging from absolutely broken and sloppily cobbled together to outright offensive and juvenile content. The company would soon crumble from their inability to take criticism. During their infamous lawsuit against Jim Sterling, the Romines attempted to sue over one hundred Steam users on grounds of personal injury over negative comments. Steam promptly responded by taking down their entire catalog and terminating their account, and since October 2016, the company is no more. Thank God for Jim Sterling!
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