It seems that “Mal Reynolds,” who revealed the Steam sport Void Warfare with a DMCA takedown, wasn’t only a troll who additionally occurred to be a giant fan of Firefly. In reality, it was Warhammer 40,000 proprietor Video games Workshop who took challenge with the picture of the shoulder pads.
Final month, videogameaddicted reported on Void Warfare, a technique sport being dubbed the “FTL of Warhammer 40,000 skins” after it was faraway from Steam. On the time, its developer, Tundra Interactive, urged that it might have been topic to an undesirable DMCA takedown by a troll claiming to be Video games Workshop.
Void Warfare is usually in comparison with indie darling FTL and Warhammer 40,000, Video games Workshop’s tabletop conflict sport set within the grim darkness of the distant future, and it is simple to see why. The gameplay is extremely just like Subset Video games’ wildly standard 2012 spaceship simulation roguelike, and the aesthetic could be very Warhammer 40,000. Void ships appear to be Imperial Navy ships. Some characters appear to be House Marines. There are precise psykers referred to as psykers. There’s something referred to as “Imperial Palace World”. There’s additionally point out of an “Imperial Astrological Authority”.
Following the deletion, videogameaddicted reached out to Tundra Interactive for remark and acquired a really uncommon response. Video games Workshop itself mentioned it had acquired a takedown discover from Valve alleging copyright infringement. However here is the bizarre factor. The criticism info got here from Video games Workshop’s public infringement mailbox and the identify “Mal Reynolds.”
Mal Reynolds is an immediately acquainted identify to Firefly/Serenity followers. As a result of that is the identify of the principle character performed by Nathan Fillion on this beloved however short-lived sci-fi drama. On the time, it was thought-about unlikely that somebody named Mal Reynolds would seem on Video games Workshop’s books. Nonetheless, in line with Tundra Interactive, it seems that Video games Workshop was really behind the deletion.
Tundra Interactive informed videogameaddicted that Video games Workshop finally responded to the developer confirming that it was the developer’s discover, and that the considerations had been restricted to a selected shot from one of many trailers on the Steam retailer web page, which may give the impression that Void Warfare is related to Video games Workshop. The corporate recognized the offending component as an “outsized convex shoulder pad with metallic edges.” And, yeah, certain, that Void Warfare trailer had a picture of a personality that regarded lots like a House Marine, full with “outsized convex shoulder pads with metallic edges.”
Tundra Interactive informed videogameaddicted that though it disagreed with Video games Workshop’s evaluation, it returned Void Warfare to Steam and eliminated the trailer to keep away from a protracted DMCA battle. The developer insisted that they might make changes and re-upload it sooner or later, however their precedence is to get again to work on Void Warfare. And that is why Void Warfare is again on Steam.
Right here is Tundra Interactive’s full assertion to videogameaddicted:
To recap, the primary takedown was attributable to a DMCA discover attributed to Video games Workshop. On the time, there was no impartial verification of the submitter past the identify and call e mail tackle offered to Valve. The contact e mail tackle was GW’s public copyright infringement inbox, and the identify listed there was “Mal Reynolds,” additionally a fictional character from the sci-fi TV present “Firefly.”
After over every week of no response, Video games Workshop lastly responded to our e mail and confirmed that the notification was theirs. They acknowledged that their considerations had been restricted to a selected shot from one of many trailers on the shop web page, and claimed that sure parts, particularly what they described as “outsized convex shoulder pads with metallic edges,” may create the misunderstanding that Void Warfare is related to Video games Workshop.
All paintings within the trailer is unique work created by our artists. Though we disagree with their evaluation, the best option to restore the sport to its unique state and keep away from getting caught within the DMCA course of was to take away that trailer and transfer on. We might discover time to regulate that shot later and re-upload an up to date model, however for now our precedence is to ship the content material and full multilingual font assist in order that we will finally present correct translations.
Thanks in your endurance and continued assist. Commander of o7.
All’s properly that ends properly? Perhaps. Certainly, this case exhibits that Video games Workshop and “Mal Reynolds,” who we hope to satisfy sometime, pay shut consideration to online game characters and their shoulder pads. This might not be shocking contemplating Video games Workshop’s historical past of strict mental property safety. Watch out! The Inquisition is at all times watching.
Wesley is videogameaddicted’s Director of Information. Discover me on Twitter @wyp100. Wesley will be reached at wesley_yinpoole@videogameaddicted.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.