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ATTENTION: I need the help of the community to keep this thread alive and up to date!
This thread is trying to combine the information of several threads into one clear list, namely Asset Flips, FOMO and Overpriced Games.
If you have additional information, please post it here and I will add it to the corresponding paragraph. Please note that due to the many games I own I am not able to see all the information on all the corresponding websites, so I NEED your help to gather all neccessary information.
Thank you!
If you either need help where to start or want to help doing something about it, the Steam group Sentinels of the Store is a very good way to do so. You also should report every scammy and scummy game developer/publisher and every single one of their games to Valve.
Explanation of what should be reported
Asset Flips:
For many game engines developers can use so called "assets" for creating a game. Those are pre-assembled environments within the game engine, build by other developers who often make a living or some serious side income by creating those.
Example: Asset developer A creates a 3D mountain environment in the game engine Unity. Game developer B wants to develop a 3D game which happens in a mountain setting. Instead of creating a 3D mountain environment himself, game developer B buys the pre-assembled environment from asset developer A in the Unity asset store to save development time and thus money. Game developer B then uses the 3D mountain environment from asset developer A to create a game.
A so called "Asset Flip" means that a scammer buys an asset in a store and instead of developing a real game with it, he sells the asset as a finished game on Steam. For example, the above mentioned and linked 3D mountain environment could be sold on Steam as a "Walking Simulator" titled "Dangerous Mountains".
So he "flips" the asset into a game without adding anything to it or just barely modifying it.
Yes, the scammy game developer has to pay for the asset and also has to pay his standard fee to Valve, but if he sells enough copies of his "game" he makes profit.
List of Asset Flips
Developers/Publishers using FOMO:
FOMO stands for "Fear Of Missing Out" and with regards of what is listed within this thread corresponds to artificial deals.
As we all know, we are always on the hunt for the best deal on a game. The higher the discount the more likely it is for us to buy the game. We HAVE to buy it at 90% off because it will never be this cheap again. Right?
Well, since 2020, a lot of scummy developers and publishers use this thinking to trick customers into buying their games, which in many cases also are asset flips. They deliberately set the base price of their games way too high, something like 9,99 or 19,99 for a shitty looking game drawn in paint with a playtime of 10 minutes. Since nobody in their right mind would buy the game at that price, they create a permanent discount of at least 75% off. Now, when users browse the deals section at Steam or any price aggregating websites, they will always see those "games" with a high discount, think that it is a deal they can't pass on (because FOMO, see above) and buy the game.
With this, the scummy devs make a profit, because most users wouldn't have bought their games even at a base price of 0,39.
List of Developers/Publishers using FOMO
Overpriced games:
Those are games whose base price is deliberately set way too high but are not discounted. Those games can be asset flips, but don't have to. But they all are not really games, most are a piece of junk nobody would be buying at full price.
The reasoning for this is not 100% clear but the following two scenarios seem to be likely: money laundering or gaining CV here at Steamgifts.
Yes, a possibility the community agreed upon is that those "games" are created for the sole purpose to be given away here at SG to farm massive amounts of CV, thus getting to higher levels and supposedly better giveaways fast.
Another possibility the community agreed upon is that those "games" are created for money laundering. Which is a criminal activity, so I won't touch this topic any further.
List of deliberately overpriced games
What should NOT be reported
Shovelware. Because someones garbage might be a real treasure for another person.
Let's not try and list every shovelware game available, but rather concentrate on scammy and scummy practices. Thanks! :)
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