Misery’s developer claims it’s an “an abuse of power” and that they’ll fight to have their game reinstated

Image credit: GSC Game World

The Steam page of recently released post-apocalyptic survival shooter Misery - seemingly unaffiliated with the Stalker mod called Misery - has been pulled offline, with developers Platypus Entertainment alleging it’s the result of a DMCA takedown filed by Stalker creators GSC Game World. Platypus say they’re in the process of fighting this claim, which an email shared by Platypus themselves suggests is all about copyright and purported use of GSC’s “game content” without permission.

As of writing, I can verify that Misery’s Steam page has gone missing, but it appears that all of the public info currently available about this apparent claim comes entirely from the Steam post in which Platypus share that email. “GSC Game World attacked Misery with a DMCA strike, and the store page is now suspended, so you cannot buy the game at the moment,” the post reads. “In their claim, they state that MISERY infringes on their IP and that players’ reviews mention S.T.A.L.K.E.R., which means it hurts their interests. This is absolutely untrue, and we will fight back to reinstate MISERY on Steam.”

I’ve reached out to GSC Game World for comment.

According to the alleged email from Valve in the post, the storefront operators took down the game’s page automatically when the takedown was lodged, in order to avoid potential liability for any copyright infringement themselves under the rules of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Platypus will have the opportunity to file a counter-notice attempting to prove the copyright infringement claims are inaccurate, and if they do, the copyright claimant would then have 10 business days to file a full-blown lawsuit. If such legal proceedings weren’t initiated in that timeframe, the game would automatically be reinstated on Steam.

“We’ve filed an appeal and are waiting the 10 business days for it to be reviewed,” claims a post to Discord post by Platypus’ primary solo developer Maewing. “We’re continuing to work on updates; there will be two big updates at the end of the month and before the New Year. Right now we’re working on cats and dogs. Thanks everyone for your support and for spreading the word. And please, don’t insult GSC, just say that they acted unfairly.”

In the original Steam post, they claimed that Misery is “a completely different concept” and “uses no characters, plot, storyline, assets, monsters, music, code, etc., from [GSC’s] games. It is all either originally created or legally licensed.” “We do not pose any threat to GSC or their IP, we do not compete with their games, nor do we use any of their IP,” Platypus added, calling the alleged takedown “an abuse of power against small independent developers by a large corporation.”

Further complicating the matter, as documented by PC Gamer, is an initial response to the alleged strike filing which saw Maewing use at least one slur. They’ve since edited this Discord post and apologised for “old posts and comments that included inappropriate and offensive statements”, but it still makes all of their posts urging others not to insult GSC ring very hollow.

There’s also potential for the whole situation to have a political dimension to it, with GSC being a Ukrainian studio, and Reddit users having spotted signs of support in Platypus’ Discord server for Russia in the ongoing conflict between the two countries. I’ve not been able to verify the chats they’ve screenshotted myself, due to the Discord allegedly having been scrubbed in the wake of the takedown request. The screenshots include more slurs, this time of a racial nature, and support for the Russian state-linked Wagner Group, a private military company accused of war crimes. There are also a bunch of instances of the letter Z, which has become a symbol of public support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Maewing claimed in the Discord post which saw them apologise: “I do not support any form of extremism, violence, or discrimination against any group of people. I truly value and respect our players and friends from all countries and backgrounds.”

As of writing, no other games similar to Stalker look to have been hit with takedowns and to my knowledge GSC haven’t filed takedowns against the likes of Chernobylite and STALCRAFT: X before.