So, I was just minding my own business, when Steam decides to update a couple of games. No big deal, right? Well, it's when I looked at what was updated that I saw something... peculiar. One of the updated games was called "Donkey on the drums". I had no idea what that was, as I'm pretty sure I would remember installing a game with such a weird title (then again, I'm pretty forgetful, so I might have actually forgotten it). A quick check on the forums led to the store page, where the game's real title was REALITY.

Stranger still, it appears that the game's "update" actually deleted the game from my hard drive ,leaving behind only DirectX installers (I had installed it some time ago, but forgot all about it. See, there's that forgetfulness I mentioned!). The game's community hub was the main target of the defacement, including attacks on the game's developer, ALX, and deleting all the forum posts (a cached version of the original hub can be found here, but all posts have been removed save for one new one asking what's happened). Oh, and the EULA for the game was also changed to say "fuck all you piece of shit crap" (tried to upload picture of this to imgur, but it's not working for me). Turns out these changes have been going on for several hours, if SteamDB's app history of the game is any indication.

Doing some digging, I found a couple of people in a group called "Donkey on the Drums ELITE" that I can only assume have something to do with this, considering one of the members is the one editing the news posts. It's either that, or the developer is having one hell of a breakdown, but I'm leaning towards the former. (EDIT: It is confirmed to be an ex-developer of the game that still retained Steamworks access to the game) That's got me thinking: have there been other Steam games that have been screwed up like this? Has there ever been another game that's gone through some sort of (what I can only assume is) malicious activity on their community hubs? As for trying to contact the dev, last I checked they were offline, but it looks like they played the game earlier, so I might have to send a message on their group page. Their game's also still up on GameJolt as well, but that hasn't been affected by whatever's going on.

UPDATE: ALX, the main (and only) developer is aware of the damage, and is currently working to undo what was vandalized, including attempting to reupload previous builds. His statement

7 years ago*

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I'm guessing the developer got hacked and vandalized. Not sure if there's any precedent for that elsewhere.

7 years ago
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O____o thats weird!

I've seen similar behaviour when certain "troll covens" have infiltrated gaming forums external to steam before, but i don' tthink I have ever seen a devs storepage / back end etc hacked.

Edit: yup, the devs profile comments are all from CS:GO trolls. Just what I expected.

7 years ago
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Strange. How can this happen?

7 years ago
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Curiouser and curiouser: http://steamcommunity.com/games/561970/announcements/detail/1298569520623206348

"Sorry
24 April - Annie
Nobody was hijacked, hacked, nor the game.

Capsule images had been altered, members had been kicked from the group and false announcements were created. This was due to reasons that I'd rather not explain. I apologise for any inconvenience."

7 years ago
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"Annie is malicious. She is messing with a product that she barely contributed too.

Do Not Trust Her. I will resolve this issue soon. She has committed many wrongdoings.

GO ON MY ACCOUNT AND JOIN MY GREY REALITY GROUP FOR UPDATES THAT SHE WILL HAVE NO CAPABILITY OF CHANGING. (She might attempt to change this announcment to twist my words or delete it, so join my group)"

http://steamcommunity.com/gid/[g:1:27026676]/announcements/detail/1298569520623454369

7 years ago*
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Did you piss off Annie, Lugum?

View attached image.
7 years ago
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I dunno, maybe someone should ask Annie, if she's okay.

Doesn't sound like it though.

7 years ago*
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Damn, I knew where you were going with that, but had no idea how you'd get there.
I expected Alien Ant Farm

7 years ago
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Because that would have been too predictable, and when you search annie are you ok in youtube instead of smooth criminal you get a bunch of weird clips like that. ;)

Almost went for her.

7 years ago*
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No, I believe you chose wisely.
5/7 Michael Jackson impersonation + moonwalk.

7 years ago
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this discussion alone was worth it

7 years ago
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7 years ago
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yes. i'm a known chat wrecker :D

View attached image.
7 years ago
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7 years ago
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TOP

7 years ago
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7 years ago
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This is very interesting. Thanks for the detailed report! And no, I haven't encountered another game that gone through something similar.

7 years ago
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Can't remember the game but there has been at least one prior instance of a dev doing something similar to their own game.

7 years ago
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I'm thinking you're thinking of DarkBase 01

7 years ago
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People should really pay more attention to whom they give developer access and what they can expect in the future from that person.

7 years ago
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