Over 2500 Steam users have had their accounts restricted over a negative game review for Waylander. According to the report, a review was posted for the MOBA game detailing its anti-cheat system and how it possibly collects user data and contains intrusive software. Valve stepped in.
The review has since been removed and the user who posted it has also been banned. However, everyone that agreed with the review has also seen their accounts being restricted from Steam for 30 days.
READ MORE – American McGee Tells Fans to Stop Asking About Alice 3 After EA Refused to Support it
The report from the Slashdot tech forum says that everyone who marked the review as “Helpful” received a restriction email from Valve preventing them from upvoting or downvoting any Steam reviews for 30 days.
Users who encountered the ban tried to contact Valve only to get a default response from the company. On the Steam support page where the issue is being discussed, the user who posted the original review shared an update on the matter. By the look of things, the review included details on the registry edits the anti-cheat software tampered with. In addition, the review detailed ways users could track down the files.
While I can’t access the full review, the forum post claims that even after uninstalling the Waylander MOBA game, it leaves various registry files behind. Some of which are extra information. However, there are also files which reportedly make connections to a Japanese IP even after deleting Waylander. These files have been deemed “shady” by users.
The review detailed ways users could manually remove the registry edits left behind by the Sentry Anti-Cheat software after uninstalling Waylander.
Valve’s terms of service state that users cannot discuss tampering with files in reviews. Even if that tampering will be beneficial to the player. As a result. the moderator banned the review and restricted all 2500 users who liked it.
This morning, the forum seems to be easing up a little. The Valve moderator who deleted the review claims that it will be reinstated after tests were done and the files in question were removed in a Waylander update on 14 April. The part where the user mentions how to access the files won’t be added back but the mention of the shady Japanese IP connections will return.
The developers behind Waylander released a statement saying that the issue was related to the Sentry Anti-cheat software and an icon which stays behind when deleting it. The developers state that the game doesn’t make any connections to outside sources and the Sentry Anti-Cheat software is safe to use.
The banned users also claim Valve is reinstating their voting features and they won’t have to wait 30 days in order to post and vote on reviews again.
