Indie developer Digital Homicide has graduated from suing critics for bad reviews to suing its own customers and its biggest distributor.
All products from the much-maligned indie developer have been removed from the Steam marketplace following actions Valve has judged to be “hostile” toward its user base.
Back in March, Digital Homicide responded to online game critic Jim Sterling’s 2014 review of The Slaughtering Grounds with a lawsuit. The suit accused Sterling of assault, libel, and slander, to the tune of over 10 million dollars. Now, the developer — also known as Imminent Uprising, or Every Click Counts Games, among others — has widened the scope to include both its customers and Valve itself.
Founders Robert Romine and James Oliver Romine, Jr. are asking for $18 million in damages from 100 Steam users they accuse of “continual and repeated attacks” against them. In an exhaustive filing obtained by Kotaku, they outline the ways that Steam group “Digital Homicides Poop Games” have allegedly engaged in “repeated anonymous harassment.”
Because of this, and after being subpoenaed for the personal information of said users, Valve made the decision to remove the developer’s games from its platform. Valve’s Doug Lombardi stated that “Valve has stopped doing business with Digital Homicide for being hostile to Steam customers.”
In response, Digital Homicide has now threatened to sue Valve, too. The post details what Digital Homicide is calling a “reckless disregard for for the well being of their community for profits.” They are openly seeking legal counsel. Their previous attempt to crowdfund representation against Jim Sterling didn’t go particularly well.
We’ll keep an eye on all three potential lawsuits and update accordingly.
Follow Nate Church @Get2Church on Twitter for the latest news in gaming and technology, and snarky opinions on both.
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