The lead developer behind free-to-play first-person shooter Operation: Harsh Doorstop has posted a "warning" to content creators reviewing his game, threatening legal action against those he says are accepting "payments from studios we compete with."
Writing in a recent online post, Operation: Harsh Doorstop creator "Bluedrake42" shares several words of caution: "A warning to every content creator when our update for Operation: Harsh Doorstop drops. If you have taken over $10,000 USD in payments from studios we compete with in the last 12 months and you don't disclose that in any 'review' you create about our game, then you and I will have legal problems."
A warning to every content creator when our update for @OpHarshDoorstop drops. If you have taken over $10,000 USD in payments from studios we compete with in the last 12 months and you don’t disclose that in any “review” you create about our game, then you and I will have legal…February 8, 2025
The dev continues, explaining that he's "tired" of content creators' "hit pieces" on games like Operation: Harsh Doorstop. "You aren't an 'independent journalist' you are a paid contractor for our competitor," writes Bluedrake42, "and I'm tired of watching you all get paid off to do hit pieces on games that don't fork cash over to you." He then says he'll "post more warnings clarifying this as we get closer to the release date."
Summarizing his thoughts, the dev says "if you're just going to post fake content attacking games that don't pay you off, then quite frankly I don't want you covering our game at all."
Bluedrake42 doesn't stop there, though. "I know this might come as a shock to many of you who are used to community managers being paid off to stroke your ego and beg you for coverage, but you'll find out very quickly that we don't operate that way."
Squad, Delta Force, Battlefield, Arma. Any realistic/semi-realistic FPS.February 8, 2025
He concludes by declaring that all users who repost his warning "will receive a Steam key to our launch playtest," as "I want to figure out which of you all are the good ones." The dev states that he doesn't "want fake people in my corner." Subsequent comments see followers ask Bluedrake42 who he considers to be his "competitors," to which he replies "Squad, Delta Force, Battlefield, Arma – any realistic/semi-realistic FPS."
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