Interesting "red shell" spyware in games

[*| Lion Heart |*]

Just stumbled upon this article...its a bit old, but I bet that its still valid:

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3282544/gamers-is-red-shell-spyware-being-used-in-the-games-you-play.html

good to know....and not to support the associated dev teams...

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33039675-Red-Shell-Games/

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1417938235

Yup.

[*| Lion Heart |*]

Opprinnelig skrevet av cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33039675-Red-Shell-Games/

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1417938235

Yup.

:qr:

Thanks :- )

I think steam should have an official games with spyware thread, so people would know which junk games/publishers to avoid...

[ReBoot]

Junk is subjective. Not few people consider Denuvo junk, including making up stories of it thrashing SSDs (lying to make a point never gets old) while others don't give a damn as long as the game is playable.

[B〄F Altonator]

It’s just data collection. Game devs have always done this. No personal info is ever stored.

[Crazy Tiger]

It's old hat. And no, there will not be an official thread about this. Casual talk is ok, but official threads mean that Steam takes a certain point. Why would Steam keep an official thread that hurts their partners?

[ReBoot]

A storenoage note would be feasible and helpful though. Similar notes exist for Denuvo, third-party accounts and other potentially controversial topics.

[Crazy Tiger]

Point taken.

[cinedine]

Opprinnelig skrevet av ReBoot:

A storenoage note would be feasible and helpful though. Similar notes exist for Denuvo, third-party accounts and other potentially controversial topics.

Pretty much every game offers telemetric data gathering. If it runs on servers it should be a given. For big publishers it should be a given. But even Unity offers such functionality.
So frankly, it should be a given.

[ReBoot]

Opprinnelig skrevet av cinedine:

Opprinnelig skrevet av ReBoot:

A storenoage note would be feasible and helpful though. Similar notes exist for Denuvo, third-party accounts and other potentially controversial topics.

Pretty much every game offers telemetric data gathering. If it runs on servers it should be a given. For big publishers it should be a given. But even Unity offers such functionality.
So frankly, it should be a given.

There's a difference between telemetry in a game and what Redshell does, namely fingerprinting a system to correlate web clicks to game actions.

[*| Lion Heart |*]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Crazy Tiger:

It's old hat. And no, there will not be an official thread about this. Casual talk is ok, but official threads mean that Steam takes a certain point. Why would Steam keep an official thread that hurts their partners?

Because their "partners" are hurting their main client base ...the client base that actually keeps steam alive....which means we - the customers are more important...and any self respecting company would cut such "partners" off if they would not change their product implementation....

[*| Lion Heart |*]

Opprinnelig skrevet av B〄F Altonator:

It’s just data collection. Game devs have always done this. No personal info is ever stored.

And you really believe in that nonsence? You must not anything about computers...but I guess its better to go for "free" meaningless stuff...and be a person that is too disinterested in actually learning about how these crappy companies and their even crappier software operate...rather than gaining the knowledge...and seeing things for what they are....

[Crazy Tiger]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Lion Heart:

Opprinnelig skrevet av Crazy Tiger:

It's old hat. And no, there will not be an official thread about this. Casual talk is ok, but official threads mean that Steam takes a certain point. Why would Steam keep an official thread that hurts their partners?

Because their "partners" are hurting their main client base ...the client base that actually keeps steam alive....which means we - the customers are more important...and any self respecting company would cut such "partners" off if they would not change their product implementation....

Steam has 2 customer groups:
- Gamers;
- Game developers/publishers.

Both groups are important and anything Valve does is to balance the needs of BOTH groups.
Only customers think they are more important.

But a store page note as ReBoot proposes wouldn't be bad, then.

[*| Lion Heart |*]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Crazy Tiger:

Opprinnelig skrevet av Lion Heart:

Because their "partners" are hurting their main client base ...the client base that actually keeps steam alive....which means we - the customers are more important...and any self respecting company would cut such "partners" off if they would not change their product implementation....

Steam has 2 customer groups:
- Gamers;
- Game developers/publishers.

Both groups are important and anything Valve does is to balance the needs of BOTH groups.
Only customers think they are more important.

But a store page note as ReBoot proposes wouldn't be bad, then.

Agreed there should be some "WARNING" for each game that has such junk like this or denovo...and other such not needed nonsence spyware....otherwise it just shows the lack on integrity on steams part...

[nullable]

So if you have a problem with integrity I think leveling it at Steam is easy and lazy, why not level it at the developers who actually and actively use this software that you have such an issue with. It's not really Valve's job to manage their decisions or their products. It's not actually malware, you just don't like it. Steam might not need to implement warnings and controls for every thing you don't happen to agree with...

[Tito Shivan]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Lion Heart:

Because their "partners" are hurting their main client base ...the client base that actually keeps steam alive....

You can't have clients if you don't have games to sell. You don't have games to sell if developers don't bring their games here.

Aside 'citation needed' on these partners actually making any dent in Steam's bottom line.

Opprinnelig skrevet av Lion Heart:

Agreed there should be some "WARNING" for each game that has such junk like this or denovo...and other such not needed nonsence spyware....otherwise it just shows the lack on integrity on steams part...

Although I concur the thing is where to draw the line. Once you reach the 'data collection' range things get quite nebulous quite fast.