Malicious devs falsely banning users on Steam

[Revadike]

Steam provides developers tools to lend Valve's anticheat service in their games, called Game Bans. They appear on user's profiles. Once enabled for the publisher API key, you can ban any user that owns the game with a simple HTTP request.

 

While Valve disallows the use of this API for any non-cheating purposes, it hasn't stopped malicious devs from abusing this to attack, suppress, or potentially even racially discriminate their own customerbase. These Game Bans are shown on Steam profiles and will permanently mark users as cheaters, destroying their reputations, which is their nefarious goal. They know they can get away with it, as they have been able to do this unpunished, for years now.

 

The victims can't retaliate, as Valve has a policy to simply not help and ignore banned users. They redirect victims to their abusers, which is obviously not going to do anything. There have been many attempts to make Valve aware of this problem and have them do something about it, but they do not seem to care.

 

What do you think of this?

 

Related:

• Developer System Ban Abuse Tracer Interactive Task Force Avoid Future Purchases

• Task Force Game Developer Mass-Banning Abuse for Negative Review Players

• Developer System Ban Abuse For Multiplayer Games If Game Gets Bad Review?

• Steam Developer Game Ban Abusers

• Remove Game Bans on Profiles

• Reports of "game ban" abuse

• Task Force devs are abusing Game Bans (Steam)*

• Task Force devs are abusing Game Bans (r/pcgaming)*

• Task Force devs are abusing Game Bans (r/Steam)*

• Multi-platform ban abuse by certain companies

• False game ban issued from game developer after negative review

• Developer Ban Abuse scram

• We Draw A Red Line To Socom Successors and Take Out The "Trash" Force (aka Task Force) TFPEP1

• This Developer BANNED me on Steam...

• Dirty Devs: Task Force Developer Redline Game Ban Abuse

• This Developer has banned me TWICE from their game LOL

• Task Force Steam Reviews

* My story

[TempestCatto]

This is exactly why I’ve been livin life on the 7 seas. I don’t need multiplayer support anyway as I have no friends so being locked to single player is all I need. 

[8tg]

Step 1) go outside

Step 2) touch grass

 

 

[dilpickle]

This is why I avoid people.

[Lurick]

5 minutes ago, 8tg said:

Step 1) go outside

Step 2) touch grass

 

 

Ah yes, touching grass is the solution to all life's problems.

Wrongly banned in a game that causes issues on the main platform outside just that game? Just touch grass!!

Run out of milk? Go outside and touch grass!! Milk appears

Car broken down and girlfriend left you? Touch grass and all is well

 

This isn't limited to just the game(s) in question, devs (from what I'm reading) are giving out beta keys and then auto banning people right away causing issues elsewhere on Steam since they're now flagged as "cheaters" in one game from a ban where they have no playtime.

[Needfuldoer]

39 minutes ago, Lurick said:

Run out of milk? Go outside and touch grass!! Milk appears

Milk appears because cows touch grass. 

[wasab]

steam has many exploits. i always love reading whats newly discovered.

[Monkey Dust]

On 4/26/2024 at 5:18 PM, Lurick said:

Ah yes, touching grass is the solution to all life's problems.

Wrongly banned in a game that causes issues on the main platform outside just that game? Just touch grass!!

Run out of milk? Go outside and touch grass!! Milk appears

Car broken down and girlfriend left you? Touch grass and all is well

 

This isn't limited to just the game(s) in question, devs (from what I'm reading) are giving out beta keys and then auto banning people right away causing issues elsewhere on Steam since they're now flagged as "cheaters" in one game from a ban where they have no playtime.

Hay fever triggered by grass pollen...

[Donut417]

On 4/26/2024 at 11:25 AM, Revadike said:

What do you think of this?

Just dont buy any more of their games. I have several devs I wont buy from period.