Windows Defender - False Positive

[kp_johan]

We are aware that Windows Defender sometimes incorrectly flags Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree as a threat and we are working together with Microsoft to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

This is a false positive; something that is relatively common issue with new game files that Windows Defender is not familiar with. This will be resolved as soon as Microsoft has confirmed that the files contain no threat.

In the meantime, if you experience this issue and would still like to play you can add the Mandragora files to the Windows Defender exception list - or wait until it is resolved.

If you want to bypass Windows Defender for now, we recommend that you use the Windows Defender Restore functionality for the .exe file.

Official Microsoft documentation can be found here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-endpoint/restore-quarantined-files-microsoft-defender-antivirus

Knights Peak Interactive - Publisher of Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree

[Umbral]

So here is the deal, no matter if its a false positive or not, the game was flagged as a wacatac trojan by my windows defender. Even before the last update yesterday, it still ran perfectly fine while being flagged as a trojan. I didn't even know until yesterday, when I checked my windows defender activity.
Now the problem is, after the update yesterday, the game doesn't even start for me anymore. No idea what happened, if it is spyware or whatever the hell, but this is not normal and no matter if its a false positive or not, I won't leave anything up to chance.

If you reading this do the same or not, is up to you. I will only play the game again, when they fix this issue, until then I play something else and keep this game off my harddrive.
I really liked this game so far and already spent a lot of time on it, but it's not worth the risk, even if I may sound stupid. (Also I really hope my savefile isn't gone, I do not have time to replay 25 hours that I sank into this.)

[Bastion]

Your game isn't launching because windows defender is automatically quarantining and/or purging the offending files. You can make it stop by whitelisting the game's exe. Your save file is not gone. Whether you want to whitelist the exe is up to you.

Situations like this are not "relatively common" as the dev's official post here manipulatively states. It is a result of studios/publishers cutting corners in the development process. Full stop. That is the reason. It doesn't "just happen", because if it did the dozens/hundreds/thousands of games that release each year would invariably produce this situation far more commonly.

Before you cite some other INDIE (keyword there) game that has had this happen in recent memory, keep in mind that this situation is essentially exclusive to indie/smaller studios and a AAA game will not have this happen. This is because AAA games have an established QA pipeline in place to specifically ensure things like this don't happen.

Smaller studios/publishers run into this issue when they skip code signing certificates because they don't want to pay the fee for them, or push builds out as soon as they get them working WITHOUT running it through QA first, or just lacking QA as a whole and use the community to sniff out bugs for them so they can enact "community driven" updates and development (aka, pushing playtesting/QA onto the player to save money).

Personally, I don't give studios a pass when something like this happens, as they aren't really innocent in it's occurrence. It happened for a reason, and that reason is a lack of the proper steps in place to specifically catch and prevent this, something that has been common, baseline practice for the past 30+ years. It's only relatively recently, when the bar for entry as a game studio has been lowered so that indie's can join the industry, does this happen, usually due to the indie flying by the seat of their pants and not following the proper protocols.

The studio should be thoroughly embarrassed that this happened, but it seems they are taking the low road and instead are trying to present this as nothing more than a consequence of doing business, a "relatively common" issue that just *happens*, not because of any reason in particular. The universe just happened to select their game to have this happen to. Poor, poor developer! We should have sympathy for them and give them a free pass, not hold them accountable for their corner-cutting.

lmao, what an absolute joke.

[bugulma64]

引用自 Bastion：

Your game isn't launching because windows defender is automatically quarantining and/or purging the offending files. You can make it stop by whitelisting the game's exe. Your save file is not gone. Whether you want to whitelist the exe is up to you.

Situations like this are not "relatively common" as the dev's official post here manipulatively states. It is a result of studios/publishers cutting corners in the development process. Full stop. That is the reason. It doesn't "just happen", because if it did the dozens/hundreds/thousands of games that release each year would invariably produce this situation far more commonly.

Before you cite some other INDIE (keyword there) game that has had this happen in recent memory, keep in mind that this situation is essentially exclusive to indie/smaller studios and a AAA game will not have this happen. This is because AAA games have an established QA pipeline in place to specifically ensure things like this don't happen.

Smaller studios/publishers run into this issue when they skip code signing certificates because they don't want to pay the fee for them, or push builds out as soon as they get them working WITHOUT running it through QA first, or just lacking QA as a whole and use the community to sniff out bugs for them so they can enact "community driven" updates and development (aka, pushing playtesting/QA onto the player to save money).

Personally, I don't give studios a pass when something like this happens, as they aren't really innocent in it's occurrence. It happened for a reason, and that reason is a lack of the proper steps in place to specifically catch and prevent this, something that has been common, baseline practice for the past 30+ years. It's only relatively recently, when the bar for entry as a game studio has been lowered so that indie's can join the industry, does this happen, usually due to the indie flying by the seat of their pants and not following the proper protocols.

The studio should be thoroughly embarrassed that this happened, but it seems they are taking the low road and instead are trying to present this as nothing more than a consequence of doing business, a "relatively common" issue that just *happens*, not because of any reason in particular. The universe just happened to select their game to have this happen to. Poor, poor developer! We should have sympathy for them and give them a free pass, not hold them accountable for their corner-cutting.

lmao, what an absolute joke.

refund bro

[Bastion]

引用自 bugulma64：

refund bro

Would if I could, more than 2 hours playtime and steam rejected my refund request.

[Valkesh]

Anyone still get the Virus message?

[Olo]

Is this issue fixed yet?
Game looks great but I am bit sceptical as I never had any steam game flagged before, so would prefer to buy it once it is resolved.

[bugulma64]

引用自 Bastion：

引用自 bugulma64：

refund bro

Would if I could, more than 2 hours playtime and steam rejected my refund request.

Notify support that the game files contain malicious software that transmits your confidential data, and the developers are not fixing this issue. This might help.

[kp_johan]

This should now be fully resolved. If you still would have any issues with false positives on your end, please let us know.

Closing and archiving this thread.