Request for Action on "Feed the Cups" Developer Misconduct

[Mika OwO]

I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the recent actions and statements made by the developers of the game "Feed the Cups" on Steam. The situation has escalated to a point where I believe it warrants serious attention and action from Steam's moderation team.

The developers of "Feed the Cups" have made several public statements that are deeply offensive and discriminatory towards female gamers. Initially, they claimed that their game was "too hardcore" and "not friendly for girls," implying that women are inherently less skilled at gaming. This sexist remark caused a significant backlash from the community, resulting in numerous negative reviews on the game's Steam page.

Instead of addressing the valid concerns raised by the community, the developers responded by labeling female gamers as "punchers(a derogatory term of feminism" and accusing them of "punching," which further inflamed the situation. Their refusal to apologize and their subsequent derogatory comments have only exacerbated the community's outrage.

In response to the flood of negative reviews, the developers have requested and received "review protection" from Steam, effectively hiding the critical feedback from players. This action undermines the transparency of the review system and prevents potential buyers from seeing the genuine concerns of the community.

I urge Steam to take the following actions:

1. **Review the developer's conduct**: Investigate the statements and actions of the "Cupfuls" developers to determine if they violate Steam's community guidelines and developer code of conduct.
2. **Reevaluate the "review protection" status**: Consider removing the review protection granted to the game, allowing all reviews to be visible and ensuring transparency.
3. **Consider further actions**: Depending on the findings of your investigation, consider taking further actions, such as issuing warnings, suspending the developers, or even delisting the game if necessary.

As a dedicated member of the Steam community, I believe it is crucial to maintain a platform that values respect, inclusivity, and transparency. Allowing discriminatory behavior and silencing valid criticism sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the trust players have in the Steam platform.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I hope to see a fair and just resolution that upholds the principles of our gaming community.

[Crazy Tiger]

Report the game and announcements directly. Posting here won't get the attention you think, this is a user-forum.

There is no "review protection". It's an off-topic filter that cannot be requested by the game developers, but which works automatically. Automatically as in when a sudden change in reviews happens, it gives a flag that then gets investigated by Valve people who apply the off-topic filter manually. So it all has been reviewed already.

Though reporting things to get another look never hurts. But use the proper channels then, a thread here will seriously not get a result.

[KalGimpa]

take this to all of the review sites

all of the forums and twitch sites that stream this game

get enough backlash form the players to make something happen

we saw it with sony

if there is enough noise, they will apologize

most bullies do

[Zefar]

Originally posted by Mika OwO:

The developers of "Feed the Cups" have made several public statements that are deeply offensive and discriminatory towards female gamers. Initially, they claimed that their game was "too hardcore" and "not friendly for girls," implying that women are inherently less skilled at gaming. This sexist remark caused a significant backlash from the community, resulting in numerous negative reviews on the game's Steam page.

Such a lukewarm statement.

Also it's pretty much a fact that majority of the boys are better at games. We do this for far longer and get more into it. This is our bread and butter.
It was shown in E-Sport. The first female pro team lost a bit too hard to the boys.

Originally posted by KalCuey:

take this to all of the review sites

all of the forums and twitch sites that stream this game

get enough backlash form the players to make something happen

we saw it with sony

if there is enough noise, they will apologize

most bullies do

The Sony backlash was big because it would actually affect gamers. A lot of them too. This will not.

[Sleepy Yoshi]

Well that's too bad. My wife and I like Overcooked quite a bit and this game is in that same co-op simulation vein. But I'll pass on the condescension.

[Start_Running]

Originally posted by Zefar:

Originally posted by Mika OwO:

The developers of "Feed the Cups" have made several public statements that are deeply offensive and discriminatory towards female gamers. Initially, they claimed that their game was "too hardcore" and "not friendly for girls," implying that women are inherently less skilled at gaming. This sexist remark caused a significant backlash from the community, resulting in numerous negative reviews on the game's Steam page.

Such a lukewarm statement.

Also it's pretty much a fact that majority of the boys are better at games. We do this for far longer and get more into it. This is our bread and butter.
It was shown in E-Sport. The first female pro team lost a bit too hard to the boys.

Also the 'little girls thing' is just old school teasing. You know like 'it'll make you cry like an anime fan on prom night...":

Originally posted by Zefar:

Originally posted by KalCuey:

take this to all of the review sites

all of the forums and twitch sites that stream this game

get enough backlash form the players to make something happen

we saw it with sony

if there is enough noise, they will apologize

most bullies do

The Sony backlash was big because it would actually affect gamers. A lot of them too. This will not.

And all that backlash didn't really accomplish anything more than a delay. And I highly doubt it was the backlash so much as someone from legal told the execs that they would be on the hook for mass refunds by most consumer laws.

[KalGimpa]

Originally posted by Zefar:

Originally posted by Mika OwO:

The developers of "Feed the Cups" have made several public statements that are deeply offensive and discriminatory towards female gamers. Initially, they claimed that their game was "too hardcore" and "not friendly for girls," implying that women are inherently less skilled at gaming. This sexist remark caused a significant backlash from the community, resulting in numerous negative reviews on the game's Steam page.

Such a lukewarm statement.

Also it's pretty much a fact that majority of the boys are better at games. We do this for far longer and get more into it. This is our bread and butter.
It was shown in E-Sport. The first female pro team lost a bit too hard to the boys.

Originally posted by KalCuey:

take this to all of the review sites

all of the forums and twitch sites that stream this game

get enough backlash form the players to make something happen

we saw it with sony

if there is enough noise, they will apologize

most bullies do

The Sony backlash was big because it would actually affect gamers. A lot of them too. This will not.

misogyny aside

the sony backlash worked because over 200k people screamed at the same time

this could get the same results

[Start_Running]

Originally posted by KalCuey:

Originally posted by Zefar:

Such a lukewarm statement.

Also it's pretty much a fact that majority of the boys are better at games. We do this for far longer and get more into it. This is our bread and butter.
It was shown in E-Sport. The first female pro team lost a bit too hard to the boys.





The Sony backlash was big because it would actually affect gamers. A lot of them too. This will not.

misogyny aside

the sony backlash worked because over 200k people screamed at the same time

this could get the same results

Objective facts can't be Misogynistic or Misandristic. They just are.
And do tell. What did that Sony Backlash accomplish?

[lilcoffeebean]

“我一开始没想到过女性玩家比例这么大，后面我才反应过来，是因为画风的原因更吸引女孩子，画风虽然很可爱，但是游戏却很硬核，对女生来说其实反而不是。”

There is nothing objective about what was actually said.

[Mad Scientist]

Originally posted by lilcoffeebean:

“我一开始没想到过女性玩家比例这么大，后面我才反应过来，是因为画风的原因更吸引女孩子，画风虽然很可爱，但是游戏却很硬核，对女生来说其实反而不是。”

There is nothing objective about what was actually said.

Originally posted by Translated:

"I didn't expect such a large proportion of female players at first, but then I realized that it was because the painting style was more attractive to girls, although the painting style was very cute, but the game was very hardcore, and it was actually not the other way around for girls."

I am questioning the OP here since it seems only by this, that they're being honest and not discriminatory or sexist. I would of course, need examples from the OP as I don't feel like translating that entire games hub, but some countries/cultures are more open to being brutally honest rather than politically correct, and china does not do politically correct other than having to follow the party.

OP, if you believe in good faith without misrepresentation that they are saying or doing something against Valves rules, you can report the product on the store page. However, if they're just being a bit brutally honest, there really is no issue with that if it's not being intentionally discriminatory or otherwise against the partner agreement.

[Zefar]

Originally posted by Start_Running:

Objective facts can't be Misogynistic or Misandristic. They just are.
And do tell. What did that Sony Backlash accomplish?

Well it stopped Sony from blocking the game for almost half of the world. I'd say that's a pretty big win for gamers. Not sure if Sony plans to go back to blocking half of the world again.

Now in their upcoming games they are going to enforce Sony account but this time people will actually know in advance.

[lilcoffeebean]

That translation is a bit off in the "it was actually not the other way around for girls". "which may not be suitable for girls" is closer to what it would be in English. People took issue with this because of what it implies. I was not personally one of those, but I can understand why some would not necessarily like how it was said. I only wanted to emphasize that it is not an objective argument or based on facts.

The relevant apology made is this:

我是熊熊，《杯杯倒满》开发组的一员。是《杯杯倒满》让我有机会和你们每个人相遇，而我却用它伤害了许多支持过我们的玩家。在经过思考和反省后，我想要再次向你们表达我的歉疚。

我在3月份的访谈视频中提及“游戏偏硬核不适合女生”，并在面对质疑时，情绪化地使用了“拳师”等词语，这些言论给女性玩家造成了巨大的不适感。而我却自以为是，也没有意识到自己态度和认识不端，让大家一再失望。我们还曾在社区中表达“提需求就延期”、“不用敬语”等傲慢的言论，伤害到了热爱游戏的玩家，非常抱歉。

Here they do directly apologize for saying it's not suitable for girls because it's hardcore. It's probably going to translate "拳师" as boxer. There's cultural nuance that's not directly translated there. In English it would be the equivalent of calling someone a radical feminist.

So you could sum it up as some people took issue with what was said and the response to that was to call them radical feminists and then later to retract and apologize when the negative reviews came pouring in. I'm not sure Valve would do anything here, because the vast majority of this took place on QQ. Not that I'm arguing they should. I don't know that it's necessary given the course correction and personally feel the backlash itself was punitive enough. Perhaps letting those who want to refund do so for some period of time, but I've never been a big proponent of trying to ruin everyone because of one.

[Muppet among Puppets]

How did this talk start?
Did someone complain the game is too difficult or what?

[Callahan420]

Valve/Steam is supposed to be hands off on all this stuff. Funny when it doesn't fit a certain narrative users are told to report.

[Start_Running]

Originally posted by Zefar:

Originally posted by Start_Running:

Objective facts can't be Misogynistic or Misandristic. They just are.
And do tell. What did that Sony Backlash accomplish?

Well it stopped Sony from blocking the game for almost half of the world. I'd say that's a pretty big win for gamers. Not sure if Sony plans to go back to blocking half of the world again.

You mean delayed.
Because the game is still blocked from purchase in non PSN regions.
I suspect even the delay was more due to the legal deopartment letting them know that they would be forced to offer unconditional refunds to ALL the game purchases.. not just those in the affected regions.

I suspect by the end of this year going into next year we'll see the PSN account thing being added.. You know, basically they're running out the clock so people are past the refund limit time.
So yeah that wasn't so much from the outcry as iut was their leghal department,

[Anonymous Helper]

Originally posted by Callahan420:

Valve/Steam is supposed to be hands off on all this stuff. Funny when it doesn't fit a certain narrative users are told to report.

Well Valve hasn't taken any action other than flagging recent reviews as review bombing, which those reviews obviously are. As far as I can tell, the whole thing happened outside of Steam in the first place so there is zero reason for Valve to get involved.