Here at Gamezebo, we’ve been pretty open about our desire for better quality control on Steam. Early Access has helped turn the service into a figurative (and sometimes literal) trash dump for hacked together scams, inferior clones and just some downright awful products.
Earth: Year 2066 was one such train wreck. Until a few hours ago, you could snag what Steam users described as an ugly, broken mess for $19.99. That’s no longer possible, however, as Valve has removed the game from the Steam storefront.
Of course it’s possible you bought the game before realizing what a pile it was – especially since users are accusing the game’s developer, Killing Day Studios, of deleting negative feedback on their Steam page and propping it up with lies written by puppet accounts. If that’s the case, you can and should get your money back.
Here at Gamezebo, we’ve been pretty open about our desire for better quality control on Steam. Early Access has helped turn the service into a figurative (and sometimes literal) trash dump for hacked together scams, inferior clones and just some downright awful products.
Earth: Year 2066 was one such train wreck. Until a few hours ago, you could snag what Steam users described as an ugly, broken mess for $19.99. That’s no longer possible, however, as Valve has removed the game from the Steam storefront.
Of course it’s possible you bought the game before realizing what a pile it was – especially since users are accusing the game’s developer, Killing Day Studios, of deleting negative feedback on their Steam page and propping it up with lies written by puppet accounts. If that’s the case, you can and should get your money back.
Earth: Year 2066
Valve representative Chris_D explained as much in a forum post.
“On Steam, developers make their own decisions about promotion, features, pricing and publication,” he said. “However, Steam does require honesty from developers in the marketing of their games. We have removed Earth: Year 2066 from Early Access on Steam. Customers who purchased the game will be able to get a refund on the store page until Monday May 19th.”
Scams and broken products being removed from Steam is rarer than it should be, but it’s not unheard of. In 2012, The War Z got the boot after intense backlash and supposed trademark issues. Of course, it made its way back to Steam two months later as Infestation: Survivor Stories, where it remains.
I would like to hope that Earth: Year 2066‘s removal is indicative of greater quality control at Steam, but I doubt it. The game was subject to an intense, Reddit-based campaign of criticism before finally being dropped.
Simply responding to consumer outrage after you’ve opened the door for them to be scammed isn’t quality control; it’s damage control. Hopefully sometime soon the once-proud moderators at Valve will come to realize that.
