You're Giving Me a Bad Review? I'm Giving You a Lawsuit

[catcul]

Digital Homicide, an independent game developer based in Arizona, has officially lost its mind. To be exact, the co-founder, James Romine has lost his mind.

Let's go over a chronological list of his insanity:

1. Jim Sterling criticizes their game "Slaughtering Grounds."

2. In response, Digital Homicide releases a "Criticize the Critic" video.

3. Jim Sterling releases a response video detailing the story after that video.

4. Digital Homicide filed a $10 million lawsuit against Jim Sterling.

5. Digital Homicide holds a contest asking Steam users to slam their games, and then get those users banned from Steam.

6. Digital Homicide has filed an $18 million lawsuit against 100 Steam users.

7. Steam has removed Digital Homicide's games from their service for being hostile toward Steam's users.

Digital Homicide is trying to use the law to squelch free speech against critics. Instead of trying to improve their products, they have proven to have less maturity of bratty 2-year-olds. At least Steam is asking with maturity.

You might want to comment on this thread before Digital Homicide tries to take it down.

[jackfaire]

So if I am reading this correctly they frankensteined throwaway games that most people have never even heard of. They know the games are crap but rather than make up for that with good story, something that absolutely can ovrerride graphics, as evidenced by the fact my daughter loves FF7 even though she can play games with better graphics.

And their idea to drum up controversy to sell games was to attack a game critic?

Does that work if no one's heard of you first? I mean really I think they know they are wrong but most of the time of a critic and a game developer fight it means big sales numbers for both.

So I am not sure they really ever believed it but they kind of have to double down. Either their sales will do gangbusters as people buy their games to see who's right or they will crash and burn.

If they pull up they crash and burn anyway the only way "Out" by pulling back is to admit "our shit's crap don't buy" the other at least could be good for a few sales.

And who knows if his reviews said anything that was factually untrue they have a case. No you can't sue for a negative opinion but if it's based on inaccurate data sure.

AT this point the best thing for them to do is buckle in and continue. Anything else leaves them 0 chance.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

I've been following this since the beginning. Jim Sterling can be a harsh critic, but he never outright lies about games. All of his reviews are video reviews while he is playing the game. You watch what he is doing and what he is seeing right there, and then he also does an after review after he's gathered his thoughts as well.

Digital Homicide is... buh. It's like that one cop that is arrogant, power drunk, and rude in a precinct that is full of really good cops (maybe not all 100% adept, but they've got the right personality and a good worth ethic.)

If you go back and watch from the beginning (which I believe you still can), you can clearly see who is right and who is wrong here. I'll give you a hint; it ain't Jim Sterling.

[Gravekeeper]

And their idea to drum up controversy to sell games was to attack a game critic?

Does that work if no one's heard of you first? I mean really I think they know they are wrong but most of the time of a critic and a game developer fight it means big sales numbers for both.

Actually, what they're essentially doing is exploiting the Steam market place. They flood it with shit games but they release Steam trading cards for every shit game they make. Then they give away the game for free with steam keys.

They make a little cut on the buy/sell market for the trading cards themselves. Basically, they make money when they give away shit for free. All they need to do is ensure said shit is the absolute barest minimum to function as a game without costing them much if anything in developments costs. So they can turn a profit on trading cards.

The worst part is they're not making a lot of money doing this at all. So it makes their reactions to criticism all the more baffling. -.-

[Talon]

One good thing came out of this fiasco: Jim Fucking Sterling Son!

DigiHom coined that phrase as a pejorative. His fans ran with it and turned it into a funny meme instead

[jackfaire]

The worst part is they're not making a lot of money doing this at all. So it makes their reactions to criticism all the more baffling. -.-

That was what I was saying. It's marketing. If you make a shit product you make more money even if you're giving it away for free but Steam pays you for a chunk of how much people get then attacking someone criticizing you is a marketing move.

If they had said nothing they would have gone out of business due to like you said they're not making a lot of money. They have said they don't have the money to make original art so they have to buy pre-made art. They were headed to closing the doors of their company and had to do something.

I had never heard of them before this article. How many other people are the same. I wouldn't have bought their games on the names alone even if they were free. I have a weird policy where I don't trust free products.

Anyway by attacking the critic they explode the internet with "oh my god look over there" and what do you bet that other people started getting their games to see what all of the fuss is about.

Bread (other company) is an absolute shit game. But because everyone was talking about it and what a shit game it was people rushed out to get it. (Just wanted to point out yes I did play it when my friend got it. Did nothing but cement my thoughts on the game)

If you're trying to increase traffic and you see people rush to shit they hate it's a good tactic. Howard Stern has a career more because people who hate him tune into listen than because of people that like him.

He even made his movie and in it points that out. His movie is basically a thank you to all of the people who hate him for giving him a career.

They have no chance in this lawsuit like you said they make shit games and give them away. But their traffic will increase with this and if they play it right put a lot of money in their pockets give them name recognition and if they can invest all of that into making a good game that people hate play they can turn it all around.

They wouldn't be the first ones to make it big by being hated.

[Gravekeeper]

They have no chance in this lawsuit like you said they make shit games and give them away. But their traffic will increase with this and if they play it right put a lot of money in their pockets give them name recognition and if they can invest all of that into making a good game that people hate play they can turn it all around.

They picked a fight with the largest digital distribution platform in the world whose market place system was the only way they were making any money to begin with. I don't think there was any genuine plan behind any of this. Valve has already removed them from Steam because of this so they make zero now.

On top of that they're incurring legal costs by launching frivolous lawsuits and inevitably will be counter sued for legal costs as a result. They'll be bankrupted by a single ruling. Losing what pittance they did make by scamming the system to begin with.

They're literally begging for legal representation on their company front page right now. So this isn't some cunning marketing ploy. This is two morons from Arizona that actually believe the shit they're saying. >.>

[catcul]

The lawsuit has been dismissed without prejudice. Here's Jim Sterling's take on the situation.