Dev sends death threat to Valve CEO, has game removed from STEAM

[Kaftan Barlast]

If you're a developer selling a game on Steam, it's probably not the best idea in the world to tweet a death threat to theguy who owns Steam. That's what indie developer Mike Maulbeck did earlier today, though, and it's now something he probably regrets. The day should have started off pretty well! Maulbeck's game, Paranautical Activity, was included as part of a Steam store section highlighting Halloween-themed games. 

Only, it was listed as an Early Access title, not a final product (the game had been only recently completed). That mistake sent Maulbeck into a Twitter tirade.

 

http://kotaku.com/indie-dev-threatens-gabe-newell-has-game-removed-from-1648678869

 

 

But if you read the article, it becomes clear that the headline should have read "Valve reads frustrated man's private twitter feed, then removes the game he helped make from STEAM"

 

Some guy got mad about his indie game not launching smoothly on steam and wrote some angry tweets to his friends and followers, and because of that, STEAM took his game down. Then to make it even sillier, some game journalist goes off and spins the mess into a "That showed him!" story. The guy didnt send Gabe Newell anything, he essentially said "Im gonna kill 'em!" which is a perfectly natural reaction to being angry and frustrated. I've mumbled way worse thing about Ingvar Kamprad when assembling IKEA furniture.

 

What bussiness do Valve have reading some dudes private twitter feed? And how thin-skinned are they to go to the trouble of tracking down which game he made and removing it as revenge? And how does this **** even qualify as news?

[Meshugger]

If you have something to lose, don't ever post what you really think on the internet under your real name. Someone, somewhere will dig it out and smite you just to make them feel better about themselves.

 

I blame lack of mandatory military service and lack of bar fights for this behaviour.

[Kaftan Barlast]

I think there should be a law that you get like 10 free passes a year for doing dumb **** on the internet. 

 

 

BOSS: You wrote on an internet forum that I like poop. You're fired!!

YOU: You cant fire me, I use internet free pass #5!

BOSS: Fine! You're not fired! But if you do it more than five times before the end of the year, your ass is outta here!

[Blarghagh]

If I say "I'm going to kill Gabe Newell too", will Kotaku make me famous? I wish for it so much.

 

[Enoch]

 

If you're a developer selling a game on Steam, it's probably not the best idea in the world to tweet a death threat to theguy who owns Steam. That's what indie developer Mike Maulbeck did earlier today, though, and it's now something he probably regrets. The day should have started off pretty well! Maulbeck's game, Paranautical Activity, was included as part of a Steam store section highlighting Halloween-themed games. 

Only, it was listed as an Early Access title, not a final product (the game had been only recently completed). That mistake sent Maulbeck into a Twitter tirade.

 

http://kotaku.com/indie-dev-threatens-gabe-newell-has-game-removed-from-1648678869

 

 

But if you read the article, it becomes clear that the headline should have read "Valve reads frustrated man's private twitter feed, then removes the game he helped make from STEAM"

 

Some guy got mad about his indie game not launching smoothly on steam and wrote some angry tweets to his friends and followers, and because of that, STEAM took his game down. Then to make it even sillier, some game journalist goes off and spins the mess into a "That showed him!" story. The guy didnt send Gabe Newell anything, he essentially said "Im gonna kill 'em!" which is a perfectly natural reaction to being angry and frustrated. I've mumbled way worse thing about Ingvar Kamprad when assembling IKEA furniture.

 

What bussiness do Valve have reading some dudes private twitter feed? And how thin-skinned are they to go to the trouble of tracking down which game he made and removing it as revenge? And how does this **** even qualify as news?

 

There is no such thing as a private twitter feed. 

 

He posted a death threat on the most publicly visible social media platform in the world.  WTF did he think was going to happen?   

Edited October 22, 2014 by Enoch

[Rosbjerg]

Gotta agree with Enoch.

 

Also, we have to treat these kinda outbursts seriously, people need to learn that being angry isn't a free pass for this kind of behavior. Saying your gonna kill someone is not "just a healthy outlet" that's a serious statement.

 

That being said his anger was justified, he just squandered it by being an idiot.

[Hurlshort]

Yeah, you can mumble all you want about killing people when assembling Ikea furniture, but it's way different to go on a public forum and shout it out.

 

People need to learn some common sense.  This guy is a moron and I'll happily hold him up as an example to all my students on what not to do.

[Blarghagh]

I'm much more concerned about the fact that this is news than the fact that his game got pulled. He's an idiot, but I'm pretty sure the message that other idiots will receive here is "threaten somebody and Kotaku will make you famous". It may even be the intended message, seeing as how all of Gawker's nonsense is about this nowadays. Putting "Death threat" in your title makes for great click bait, which makes for great ad money.

[Orogun01]

The problem of having a forum full of reasonable, intelligent people is that most things to be said about an issue get said on the first page. 
I really don't know what we would do without our trolls.

[Blarghagh]

We need more trolls to keep this from becoming an echo chamber.

[Gfted1]

Reading those Tweets....wow. Dude isn't very bright.

[Meshugger]

He should've written it in a silly foreign accent and everyone would've laughed and then forgotten about it.

[Kaftan Barlast]

When me and my friends play Battlefield 4 online on public servers, I usually recieve about four death threats, numerous racist insults and one or two instances of people claiming my mother was promiscuous. It's just the way people act on the internet when there is no filter. The trick is to have the filter in your brain, instead of relying on the goverment or whomever to put a physical one there for you.

 

 

 

There is no such thing as a private twitter feed.

Clarification: by private twitter feed, I mean one that is tied to a private individual. Not a company, organisation or public persona. The kind of thing that is read by five people. It's less public than writing something in a toilet stall.

[TrashMan]

 

There is no such thing as a private twitter feed. 

 

He posted a death threat on the most publicly visible social media platform in the world.  WTF did he think was going to happen?   

 

 

That's not a death threat.

Not really.

 

[Fighter]

Well that was dumb.

 

However if I was Gabe Newell I would not kick him from Steam. He is angry and stupid but I would not take that as a real threat and potentially ruin his life.

[Gfted1]

That's not a death threat.

Not really.

What qualifies as a death threat if not:

 

"I am going to kill gabe newell.

 

He is going to die."

[Nonek]

Career Darwinism?

[Enoch]

 

There is no such thing as a private twitter feed.

Clarification: by private twitter feed, I mean one that is tied to a private individual. Not a company, organisation or public persona. The kind of thing that is read by five people. It's less public than writing something in a toilet stall.

 

Toilet-stall writing can't be sent to Gaben, Valve PR, and the FBI with a simple "RT@" by any one of the guy's followers. 

[Meshugger]

When me and my friends play Battlefield 4 online on public servers, I usually recieve about four death threats, numerous racist insults and one or two instances of people claiming my mother was promiscuous. It's just the way people act on the internet when there is no filter. The trick is to have the filter in your brain, instead of relying on the goverment or whomever to put a physical one there for you.

 

 

There is no such thing as a private twitter feed.

Clarification: by private twitter feed, I mean one that is tied to a private individual. Not a company, organisation or public persona. The kind of thing that is read by five people. It's less public than writing something in a toilet stall.

 

 

You're scando, right? Then i understand on why those kinds of expressions work well with your friends on the factory floor, the workshop or during a BF4 deathmatch. No one takes those seriously and everyone understand the social dynamics involved. 

 

But on the internet those things do not work. You have no privacy. At all.

[Malcador]

Did Newell flee his home ?

[Nonek]

Did Newell flee his home ?

 

I think you only have to do that when it's a four month old bomb threat at a far away convention centre.

[Elerond]

If your income depends on someone else's platform who is not anyway depended on your product/s, you probably should not publicly bad mouth and threaten them because they can always decide not to do business with you.

 

Only person that I feel bad for is his business (now ex-)partner, because he probably didn't deserve also loose his income because of actions of his business partner, but that is reality in business and something that people even advocate with righteousness fury in other circumstances.

[Starwars]

Aside from death-threats not being OK in the first place, even on the internetz (yeah, yeah, we should all just toughen up and grow a thick skin, those feminists are out to take over gaming etc etc...), it was doubly stupid of this guy to post something like that aimed at the platform in which hands they've placed their game.

 

It's good STEAM did what they did. Thumbs up.

Edited October 22, 2014 by Starwars

[Volourn]

 So   I guess there is no Steam -developer contracts? Steam can just pull games willy nilly or is there a 'do not make mean post/stupid real or not real death threats at Steam boss'  stipulation in any signed contract? <>

 

Just wondering.

[Elerond]

 So   I guess there is no Steam -developer contracts? Steam can just pull games willy nilly or is there a 'do not make mean post/stupid real or not real death threats at Steam boss'  stipulation in any signed contract? <>

 

Just wondering.

In my understanding Steam (Valve) reserves right to remove game from their service at any point of time without needing to inform game's rights holder/s about that decision without need to give reason behind their decision although this time Valve gave out reason behind their decision.