The Greatest Steam Scam 2024

[Pyconcux]

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This text slightly touches on the Deep Russian Depression theme, but it is about completely different games. Thanks to the developer for providing the place for writing.

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During 2024, Steam saw a wave of game releases, including some classics that were originally made and gained fame decades ago but only just hit the platform.

For nostalgic players, it’s exciting and tempting option to splurge. But before you open your wallet, think twice — I have a hunch someone shady might be uploading and selling these games without proper rights.

Similar discussion is popping up on forums about other games under my suspicion. The pattern is hard to miss: all these titles were developed in the early 2000s, added to Steam in 2024, and published by someone called Strategy First.

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Strategy First Inc. is a Canadian company known for publishing games like FlatOut, Disciples, and Jagged Alliance.

They have an official website[www.strategyfirst.com] where you can buy copies of some of their published titles. However, the games released under their name on Steam in 2024 are nowhere to be found there.

I tried to reached out to Strategy First Inc. directly to ask about their involvement in publishing these and other 2024 Steam titles, but I haven’t gotten a response. Calling their office didn’t help either — no one picked up, so I left a voicemail explaining my question and asking them to check their email.

Even though I haven’t heard back, I’m confident that this so-called Strategy First publisher on Steam has no connection to the legitimate company. It seems like someone is using their name for personal gain.

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This isn’t the first time something like this has happened on Steam. Back in 2023, someone posed as the publisher Wellerfall and sold the games Heath: The Unchosen Path and GoldenLand: ColdHeaven without any rights to do so. Eventually, the rightful owners found out, and action was taken: Valve banned the scammer and removed the games from the store. This raises an important question: how do scammers manage to impersonate someone else?

For many Steam users, it might come as a surprise that you can list absolutely anyone or anything as the developer or publisher of a game. Clicking on the developer’s or publisher’s name in the Steam store brings up a list of all games that have the same text listed under "Developer" or "Publisher." A friend of mine agreed to demonstrate this vulnerability on the page of his project Deep Russian Depression by adding Strategy First as a second publisher. From that moment, this game also appeared in the list of titles under that publisher, and it will remain there until Valve fixes this flaw. This same trick was used by our imposter, who posed as the famous publisher and blended in among the many older Strategy First projects.

However, the imposter made several mistakes that ultimately exposed them. For one, the game titles are written in Russian. Any professional publisher knows to use English for the main title to ensure it displays properly in the store's URL and only adds translations for other languages as needed. In this case, the main title was left in Russian, likely to attract a nostalgic Russian-speaking audience.

The store pages also stand out for their lack of polish. Legitimate publishers typically include links to external websites for the game or related resources, detailed system requirements, press reviews, and other small but telling details. These omissions are a dead giveaway that something isn’t quite right.

But the most glaring proof of the imposter’s incompetence is how they handle news and updates for their games. Let’s take the update for the game Revenge of the Boxer: Moscow Criminality from October 1, 2024, as an example:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3061900/view/4705788605371784043

Originally posted by Impostor:

New update!


- Added Russian version
- Added Steam Trading Cards

Enjoy!

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No serious publisher would ever take such a casual tone with their audience. This alone leads me to conclude that our imposter is just another amateur swindler, exposing themselves through their lack of professionalism and overly chummy attitude toward users.

I can’t deny that bringing old games to Steam is a wonderful initiative. The platform provides both technical and social tools to keep these games relevant while preserving them as pieces of art for future generations. Old games get a new life, users leave glowing reviews, and everyone seems happy. So, what’s the issue?

The issue is that the imposter is pocketing money they have no right to. They’re not the creator or the rightful owner of the games. They haven’t made any meaningful updates or improvements to the content. They’re a nobody hiding behind someone else’s name and stealing profits that don’t belong to them.

There wouldn’t be an issue if old games were published for free, aiming to preserve cultural heritage and make them accessible to a wider audience. Even a small price tag could be justifiable if it unlocked badges, backgrounds, and avatars for the community. But what do we have instead?

The imposter slaps unreasonably high prices on these games to make as much money as possible, as quickly as possible. He/she/it couldn’t care less about quality, ignore all requests and complaints, and leave the community to fix the games themselves. Worst of all, they blatantly violate copyright laws and deceive customers.

As of November 23, 2024, this scammer has published at least 12 games, the most recent of which were released on November 20, 2024. Since the theft and sale of intellectual property have essentially become a production line for them, the number of such games is bound to grow rapidly until action is taken.

— https://steamcommunity.com/app/2633500
— https://steamcommunity.com/app/2680190
— https://steamcommunity.com/app/2905090
— https://steamcommunity.com/app/3061900
— https://steamcommunity.com/app/3061910
— https://steamcommunity.com/app/3061920
— https://steamcommunity.com/app/3278740
— https://steamcommunity.com/app/3302500
— https://steamcommunity.com/app/3302510
— https://steamcommunity.com/app/3341420
— https://steamcommunity.com/app/3341440
— https://steamcommunity.com/app/3341450

As you can see, for the imposter, this is just business. So the question is, should we be paying for this?

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I urge everyone to refrain from purchasing this and other games from this fake publisher. I’m sure the imposter will take action and do everything possible to avoid losing their easy, illegal profits. I expect threats and insults in response.

Additionally, we need to make Valve aware that it’s time to change the rules for filling out the "Publisher" field in the Steam store. Ideally, this field should display the exact name of the individual or legal entity that published the game on the platform, so we know exactly who we’re dealing with.

If you think this issue is important, please share this information with your friends — users need to understand how Steam works.

Thank you for your attention,
Pyconcux