A method sport dubbed ‘FTL in a Warhammer 40,000 pores and skin’ was just lately pulled from Steam, with its developer suggesting it might have been on the receiving finish of a nuisance DMCA takedown from a troll claiming to be Games Workshop.
Final week, Tundra Interactive posted a message on the Void War Steam forum to say the sport was “briefly unavailable” after it had been pulled from Steam with out rationalization. The indie developer mentioned it was working with Valve to “resolve” the difficulty, and pointed to Void Conflict’s continued availability on Itch.io.
Void Conflict is usually in contrast to each indie darling FTL and Warhammer 40,000, Games Workshop’s tabletop wargame set in the grim darkness of the far future — and it’s straightforward to see why.
The gameplay appears extremely comparable to Subset Games’ vastly in style 2012 ‘spaceship simulation roguelike-like,’ and the aesthetic could be very Warhammer 40,000. The voidships themselves look — in Void Conflict’s official artwork — like Imperial Navy Vessels.
In the meantime, a few of the characters appear to be House Marines. There’s an precise Psyker that’s referred to as a Psyker. There are “Imperial Shrineworlds.” There’s point out of “Imperial astrogation authorities.” You get the concept.
Following the takedown, IGN requested Tundra Interactive for remark, and it responded with one thing fairly uncommon. It mentioned that it had obtained a takedown discover from Valve stating that Games Workshop itself had claimed copyright infringement. However right here’s what makes this one odd: the one claiming data Valve offered the developer it mentioned, is Games Workshop’s public-facing infringements inbox and the identify “Mal Reynolds.”
Mal Reynolds is a identify that will probably be immediately acquainted to Firefly / Serenity followers, as a result of that’s the identify of the primary character, performed by Nathan Fillion in the beloved however short-lived sci-fi present. It appears unlikely that Games Workshop would have somebody on its books named Mal Reynolds, and that it might come after Void Conflict now, half a yr after launch on Steam. And it’s value mentioning Void Conflict remains to be up on Itch.io, the place no DMCA takedown seems to have taken place.
Right here’s Tundra Interactive’s remark to IGN in full:
We obtained a DMCA takedown discover from Valve stating that Games Workshop is claiming copyright infringement. Now we have not obtained every other communication from Games Workshop, and the one claimant data Valve has offered is Games Workshop’s public-facing infringements inbox and the identify “Mal Reynolds,” which is uncommon since that’s the primary character from Firefly. We will’t independently confirm who really submitted the discover, and Games Workshop hasn’t responded but to our e mail asking them to verify or withdraw it. We’re following the usual DMCA course of and can share additional updates when we now have confirmed data.
After all, this may increasingly really be a real DMCA takedown by Games Workshop, and there might be a Mal Reynolds who’s doing the soiled work. Maybe there’s an official FTL-style Warhammer 40,000 sport in the works, and it is shut to a reveal. Neither Games Workshop nor Valve has clarified the matter, and primarily based on each corporations’ historical past when it comes to DMCAs, are unlikely to.
All of which leaves Void Conflict off Steam and Tundra Interactive, just like the Imperium Nihilus itself, in the darkish. As for Games Workshop, it’s obtained loads of official Warhammer 40,000 video games in growth, together with Daybreak of Conflict 4, Darkish Heresy, and Whole Conflict: Warhammer 40,000.
Wesley is Director, Information at IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You’ll be able to attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.