"VeryPositive" Banned From Steam for Review Manipulating Name

Some interesting controversy has arisen after one developer managed to find a clever little trick with the Steam store. Unfortunately, the Very Positive dev team has been discovered.

It began with a clicker game on Steam called Emoji Evolution. Though it wasnt the game that caused the controversy, but the developer and publisher. A self-published game, its developed by Very Positive. And while that sounds innocent enough, its caused a bit of a stir with Steam. As some have noticed, the developer and publisher lines on Steam pages are the same general area, size, and color as the review system. By naming themselves this way, theyre tricking consumers into thinking the game is more highly rated than it really is.

And the developer is fully aware of this trick. In an interview with Vice, they explain that reviews make a tremendous difference on if a potential user plays their game. Noticing how close and similar the dev name and review score is, they decided to "use it for [their] purposes."

VeryPositive underestimated the impact that would come from this scheme, however. Originally, they claimed that it wouldnt be an issue, because Steam fully understands how minor this trick is. But as the story gained traction online, the developers account ended up being banned for review manipulation. VeryPositive disagrees with the ban, claiming that they will contact Steam support.

They knew exactly what they were doing. Its hard to garner any sympathy for their ban. That said, we at least give them credit for being clever this way. Theres no word as to if the developer will return with a new name at this time.