Well, we’ve never heard this one before. A pair of games on PC storefront Steam disguised themselves as Helldivers 2 to hoodwink users into buying them.
Earlier today, the Steam pages for two indie titles — namely Figurality by SoleOnBoard Studio and Do Not Smile by Whitehole Games — were heavily edited to ape the page for the popular co-op shooter. All their metadata was changed, including game title, description, publisher and developer information, and screenshots. The result was that there appeared to be three almost identical Steam listings for Helldivers 2.
The only ways to tell the difference were the number of reviews, which was much lower for the imitators than the real deal, and the release dates. The fakes were also priced cheaper than the real game, potentially fooling people into thinking they were getting a bargain.
Fortunately, the culprits were discovered, and have since been delisted. Apparently, the two game pages were edited at the same time, suggesting one person or team was responsible for both.
It’s a scam we’ve never seen before, though we suppose it’s possible it has happened and just never been called out. The incident has raised concerns about the fact it’s even possible to do this; amending a game’s publisher and developer name in particular seems like it should be better monitored, or more controlled.
Anyway, hopefully this didn’t catch out too many people, though we suppose anyone who did mistakenly buy a copycat could claim a refund through Steam at least. Did you fall victim to this bizarre scam? Discuss in the comments section below.
[source videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 19
LOTR: Gollumdivers & Hell Island: Dive of Kong
Are people really that dumb?
Steam pays on a 30 day cycle, they wouldn't receive the money until the end of March. Also Steam has a refund period.
I'd be embarrassed to work for these studios
Real d**k move
@CielloArc it's less of a money collecting, more of installing malware and other crap that can steal your data, like crypto wallets and other stuff
@SacredPYRO It wont be a "studio" it'll be a one man band scam outfit.
This looks pretty egregious, but unfortunately is something that happens A LOT. I get scam emails and text messages posing as everyone from AT&T to Amazon. Wanting me to click a link about a recent purchase or bill. It drives me crazy. Most of the scammers are easy to spot because of spelling errors, weird invoice numbers, strange formatting, etc. but I hate that this is the world we live in now where we have to constantly assume every online purchase or interaction is a scam until proven otherwise.
@Th3solution scam emails ***** I wish at least I can get that ***** sent to the spam folder I keep getting text messages I've blocked over a hundred numbers since Christmas this is getting ridiculous
@Drago201 Yes, every now and then I look at my spam folder and it’s just a total mess of garbage. But the scammers methods are getting better that they can get past some of the filtering protocols.
I’m with you - I block those numbers and then “delete and report as spam” but they just keep coming. Also, about 80% of the phone calls I get are marketing or scammers. If they aren’t on my contact list, I don’t answer. I always regret it if I do.
I don’t know what society needs to do to clean this hogwash up. Imagine how bad hackers and scammers will be 10-20 years from now. They seem to constantly staying one step ahead of the cybersecurity world. See Insomniac hack as evidence of that. Probably some poor employee clicked a link and that’s all it takes.
@Th3solution yeah the future is looking bleak the scam callers have somehow managed to skip calling me and just go directly to voicemail
Anyone looking to grab the 3 extreme trophies let me know? I still need ‘hold my primary’ and the blitz one I forget it’s name. Willing to help with the other one too but I did manage to get that with randoms
@Bamila Doesn't Steam check for this that would be quite a joke? You would think with the amount of profit they make that they would have a decent quality check?
Barring hacks or April Fools jokes (the latter naturally revealing themselves instead of so much as reaching the cart page), isn't this technically a potential false advertising lawsuit? Unless the dodos reside somewhere comfortably beyond the relevant legislation's reach.
i just bought this yesterday , thank god i ain’t see the scam ones though
Where there is success, there are scummy losers.
How did they get past moderation?
@CutchuSlow what moderation
@naruball exactly, what moderation? You can blame ps for some low quality games made to ps store, but this is a whole other level. Steam has alot of dodgy listings. Personally I use it if I have no ther choice. GOG is my preference for PC games
@naruball oh. Doesn't steam check things before putting it up on the store?
Tho steam gives refunds. So I guess if there's an issue, they can get their money back.
2 games it was around 800 that actually got deleted and it's by the same guy who keeps changing the titles over and over, he sort of screwed himself when he changed the name of the Devs/pub to actual VALVE and they shut them all down.
But they've had another guy who's been doing it since 2021 and he still does it, so I won't be suprise if they change the way a game can be submitted
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