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PayPalUpdate: Valve has now taken it down.
Here's a "fun" one for you. The developers behind the free and open source RTS named 0 A.D. (pronounced “zero-ey-dee”) have announced that someone (they don't know who) has put it up on Steam.
This is sometimes the perils of open source, as there's a lot of people out their looking to make a quick-buck and they don't care who they burn in the process. To be clear, the version of 0 A.D. that has released on Steam (with it missing the second dot in the name), is not actually from the people who make the game — even though Wildfire Games are listed as the developer on Steam it's not them. Confusing right? Valve allowed it and approved it, so it does make me curious what legal checks are even done for this to happen.
I was notified of this on Twitter, with the official 0 A.D. account tweeting:
Turns out the only reason @YouTube added the game back is because somebody uploaded 0 A.D. to @Steam without our consent. It also explains the typo in the name…
Another tweet sent today by the 0 A.D. team:
IMPORTANT: The person who released the game on steam today is charging 8€ for it. Please do not buy it. The game is free and always will be. It might contain viruses and other malware.
I imagine it doesn't have anything nefarious inside it, otherwise you really would have to wonder what Valve are doing…
Looking on the official game forum there's a topic asking about it, the developers seems to be at a loss as to what is happening.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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☆ Promoted Comments
We totally agree that the person had the right to upload it to steam due to the license. The concern here is Wildfire Games' identity theft, the lack of certainty about the source code (Verified, not verified), the mistakes in the title, and especially the potential load on our servers if the person didn't change the multiplayer lobby, and bonus, the positive or negative reputation of the game's presence on Steam in an alpha version for Wildfire Games and 0 A.D. Empires Ascendant since the person is pretending to be us. As an additional cost, moderation might have been problematic.
Regarding the legal part, there is no CLA on 0 A.D., so if it had to be re-licensed to link to the Steam SDK, I have potentially 500 contributors who disagree with taking this into account. Some of them are part of a fork, and some of them are dead.
You have to be the copyright owner to post on Steam, but I'm not sure.
In fact, if the person had contacted us beforehand, we could have considered something, but the fact they totally ignored us and or our messages made it a matter of urgency.
We're actually really interested in what it would take to go on Steam properly, and whether we can at all so please get in touch if you know what's required.
We'd like to thank all the people that reported the game on Steam, and we're sorry it had to go to such extents.
Regarding the legal part, there is no CLA on 0 A.D., so if it had to be re-licensed to link to the Steam SDK, I have potentially 500 contributors who disagree with taking this into account. Some of them are part of a fork, and some of them are dead.
You have to be the copyright owner to post on Steam, but I'm not sure.
In fact, if the person had contacted us beforehand, we could have considered something, but the fact they totally ignored us and or our messages made it a matter of urgency.
We're actually really interested in what it would take to go on Steam properly, and whether we can at all so please get in touch if you know what's required.
We'd like to thank all the people that reported the game on Steam, and we're sorry it had to go to such extents.
14 Likes, Who?
Full Comments
StalePopcorn Oct 20, 2022
Charlatans!
0 Likes
That's a VERY cheap asset flip of whoever did that.
Not stupid, I gotta say - they might even make a few bucks before it gets pulled.
Why don't the actual devs put it on Steam, though?
Mindustry is a great example that a game can both be free and sold on Steam by the same people.
Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 20 October 2022 at 2:56 pm UTC
Not stupid, I gotta say - they might even make a few bucks before it gets pulled.
Why don't the actual devs put it on Steam, though?
Mindustry is a great example that a game can both be free and sold on Steam by the same people.
Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 20 October 2022 at 2:56 pm UTC
11 Likes, Who?
Kuduzkehpan Oct 20, 2022
That's a VERY cheap asset flip of whoever did that.
Not stupid, I gotta say - they might even make a few bucks before it gets pulled.
Why don't the actual devs put it on Steam, though?
Mindustry is a great example that a game can both be free and sold on Steam by the same people.
İ totally agree with this. Also 0 A D isnt open source game ? so what is the problem here ? i dont get it really.
3 Likes, Who?
dziadulewicz Oct 20, 2022
Maybe this will speed up the process on getting 0 A.D. officially by the developers to Steam. I mean it's astounding it's not there yet still officially. Why not?
People game on Steam on Linux and expect to find most of their needs just there now. In this day and age any tinkering getting a game to launch is a huge no. Click Play and game. Or not.
That said, SuperTux does not launch on Linux in Steam because its a AppImage package and problems related to that. It's quite ironic that SuperTux does not work OOTB on Linux
People game on Steam on Linux and expect to find most of their needs just there now. In this day and age any tinkering getting a game to launch is a huge no. Click Play and game. Or not.
That said, SuperTux does not launch on Linux in Steam because its a AppImage package and problems related to that. It's quite ironic that SuperTux does not work OOTB on Linux
5 Likes, Who?
Looks like the 0 A.D. folks ran into a similar issue that the MultiMC folks ran into.
Overly permissive licensing that allows people to do things with it that they didn't anticipate.
It is unfortunate.
Overly permissive licensing that allows people to do things with it that they didn't anticipate.
It is unfortunate.
2 Likes, Who?
They couldn't even be bothered to upload the Linux version
3 Likes, Who?
slaapliedje Oct 20, 2022
Maybe this will speed up the process on getting 0 A.D. officially by the developers to Steam. I mean it's astounding it's not there yet still officially. Why not?This brings up a curiosity. Could developers get a game 'into Steam' but Steam essentially just installs the flatpak version, or distribution packaged version? Seeing as how most distributions have 0 A.D. in them. Then again, I can also see reasons why developers wouldn't want to put them into Steam either. Granted another possibility (mind you this loses a lot of discoverability) is to have distributions put in a post-install script that adds their games to the Steam UI if it's detected. That'd be rather interesting...
People game on Steam on Linux and expect to find most of their needs just there now. In this day and age any tinkering getting a game to launch is a huge no. Click Play and game. Or not.
That said, SuperTux does not launch on Linux in Steam because its a AppImage package and problems related to that. It's quite ironic that SuperTux does not work OOTB on Linux
0 Likes
while anyone can distribute FOSS games, the name should be trademarked to prevent stuff like this from happening...
there is nothing wrong with forking and charging for it, so long you respect the licence...
there is nothing wrong with forking and charging for it, so long you respect the licence...
6 Likes, Who?
In my case only use game from oibaff ppa, in last times stay testing with zink too for fun
OpenGL
!link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIwQc78ivJc
Zink
!link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_srMw2PW81g
Last edited by mrdeathjr on 20 October 2022 at 3:35 pm UTC
OpenGL
!link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIwQc78ivJc
Zink
!link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_srMw2PW81g
Last edited by mrdeathjr on 20 October 2022 at 3:35 pm UTC
3 Likes, Who?
That said, SuperTux does not launch on Linux in Steam because its a AppImage package and problems related to that. It's quite ironic that SuperTux does not work OOTB on LinuxIt works fine on Linux in Steam: it was the second game I installed on the Deck. The appimage had problems only if you were using flatpak Steam.
2 Likes, Who?
Looks like the 0 A.D. folks ran into a similar issue that the MultiMC folks ran into.
Overly permissive licensing that allows people to do things with it that they didn't anticipate.
It is unfortunate.
But guys developing Thrive game somehow figured out how to publish game on Steam.
https://revolutionarygamesstudio.com/releases/
0 Likes
For those asking "why wasn't it already on Steam?", one of the actual devs has posted on the Steam forum, asking the "publisher" to get in touch, and explaining why it hasn't been on Steam yet legitimately: https://steamcommunity.com/app/2158440/discussions/0/5277681174359234528/
Making it available here as implications on the moderation and the server load of the lobby and its limited resources that should not be taken lightly. It also has some implications for the future of the game concerning reviews which could doom its opportunities. The project is not done yet and it will continue to evolve.
5 Likes, Who?
can we even report it?
Of course - i just did.
Really annoying that scumbags like this exist.
It's not just ripping the devs of, but damaging the project in multiple ways.
As the project lead writes in the Steam forums:
I'm the project leader of this game and I'm saddened I wasn't consulted for this. There are reasons 0 A.D.: Empires Ascendant is not on steam yet.
Making it available here as implications on the moderation and the server load of the lobby and its limited resources that should not be taken lightly. It also has some implications for the future of the game concerning reviews which could doom its opportunities. The project is not done yet and it will continue to evolve.
5 Likes, Who?
Any game on Steam can
"contain viruses and malware" (cit.)
Last edited by kokoko3k on 20 October 2022 at 4:49 pm UTC
"contain viruses and malware" (cit.)
Last edited by kokoko3k on 20 October 2022 at 4:49 pm UTC
6 Likes, Who?
I imagine it doesn't have anything nefarious inside it, otherwise you really would have to wonder what Valve are doing…Never assume an application is clean, even if you're on Linux. Like seriously.
Too many Linux users just assume that because they're on Linux they can't be hacked or get a virus. That's simply a fallacy, if you download a dodgy application on Linux, it can take control of your Linux box just like it could with a windows box.
Remember, the weakest security link is always the user.
Don't believe me? Look up ransomware for Linux. Also, don't forget technically speaking the strongest forms of DRM are technically spyware and rootkits and Steam allow those.
So don't assume everything is clean just because you're on Linux.
15 Likes, Who?
SlickMcRunFast Oct 20, 2022
Hope Valve updates the their terms to block this specifically. It's their store, they can kick them for the fun of it.
Maybe the official devs can do it like the VR app OVR, https://store.steampowered.com/app/1009850/OVR_Advanced_Settings/. They have a free download and a donation "DLC".
Maybe the official devs can do it like the VR app OVR, https://store.steampowered.com/app/1009850/OVR_Advanced_Settings/. They have a free download and a donation "DLC".
1 Likes, Who?
While it's ethically sus, is that illegal or even against any of the game's open source license or Steam agreements/rules?
If there's no single ownership and someone publishes it in any other form, like on a CD or floppy, or posts it on a BBS or even on a forum.. nobody would bat an eye, even ethically. I'm just wondering whether this is different or if there's a case. It's interesting!
Last edited by Miles on 20 October 2022 at 5:33 pm UTC
If there's no single ownership and someone publishes it in any other form, like on a CD or floppy, or posts it on a BBS or even on a forum.. nobody would bat an eye, even ethically. I'm just wondering whether this is different or if there's a case. It's interesting!
Last edited by Miles on 20 October 2022 at 5:33 pm UTC
0 Likes
While it's ethically sus, is that illegal or even against any of the game's open source license or Steam agreements/rules?The copyright holder can choose to dual-licence their code - GPL and Steam's EULA in this case. No one else can take GPL code and slap additional restrictions on the end user. That's a copyright violation.
3 Likes, Who?
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