The War Z removed from Steam

Valve says it mistakenly published Hammerpoint Interactive's open-world zombie game; refunds available.

Controversial zombie shooter The War Z has been removed from Steam. A Valve representative told Kotaku that the game was mistakenly published in the digital store and will not return until the company speaks with developer Hammerpoint Interactive. A listing for The War Z remains available, but the game cannot be purchased at this time.

"From time to time a mistake can be made and one was made by prematurely issuing a copy of War Z for sale via Steam," the Valve representative said. "We apologize for this and have temporary [sic] removed the sale offering of the title until we have time to work with the developer and have confidence in a new build."

Gamers who already purchased The War Z can continue to play it. Those who bought the game and are not satisfied can seek a refund by opening a support ticket at Valve's website.

Following its launch on Monday, users began reporting numerous issues with The War Z. Many players criticized the game and developer Hammerpoint for being misleading and for censoring their comments about issues with the game.

Eddie Makuch
By Eddie Makuch, News Editor

Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.

251 comments
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CatAtomic999
CatAtomic999

This thing has had "scam" written all over it from day one. From very early on, it was very heavy on the "give us cash now" and very light on the details.

Kickable
Kickable

i think the 3 characters in screenshot are going to attempt a human chain.  bad idea guys.

BrutalPandaX2
BrutalPandaX2

So it basically is not out yet. Why are people bitching at the company then? It says 'Valve mistakingly published', what's this have to do with the developer?

djpetitte
djpetitte

hahaha you should research a little better before posting.

AppleCores
AppleCores

 @djpetitte Again with the " :( " sad little troll, but don't cry and lets turn the frown upside down " :) ".

Kickable
Kickable like.author.displayName 1 Like

 @djpetitte yea if you look closely you can see that his post is in the form of a question.

wbknapp
wbknapp like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

 @djpetitte Look, there aren't many rules on the Internet, but one is if you're going to describe someone as "retarded", you have to at least spell retarded correctly.

djpetitte
djpetitte

yes a retarted question that's not worth answering.

Rashagan
Rashagan like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 3 Like

*flails arms* WAR Z you are tearing me apart!

GamerMani
GamerMani

Fuck Valve & Steam LOL

Kenuty
Kenuty

 @GamerMani Why? Why would I want to say fuck you to a great company? I spend over 6000+$ with this company on my steam alone in games and Have always enjoyed it. Almost everyone uses Steam service knows better. I guess you're an origin fan?

djpetitte
djpetitte like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 3 Like

 @GamerMani Valve and steam are top dog, moron.

x-TwilighT-x
x-TwilighT-x like.author.displayName 1 Like

 @djpetitte  @GamerMani Who says they are top dog? That's ignorance.

 

"PC games that are digitally distributed either directly or by networks such as Steam are not tracked by the NPD, and Valve does not list sales numbers for games downloaded through their service"

 

Fail.

AppleCores
AppleCores

 @x-TwilighT-x  @djpetitte Well i enjoy Counterstrike and its simply freedom of opinion. But alas your just a sad little troll with a " :( " all the time.... But don't cry little troll, lets turn that frown upside down " :) ".

AppleCores
AppleCores

 @x-TwilighT-x  @djpetitte I enjoy counter strike. Its freedom of opinion, your just a sad little troll with a " :( " face all the time. Don't cry little troll and turn that frown upside down " :) ".

skipper1993
skipper1993

 @x-TwilighT-x 

"...but they're not innovative or graphically impressive. The same goes for Half Life."

 

I'm sorry what? Half Life didn't innovate? Did you seriously just say that? I honestly can't believe that there are people out there as ignorant as you about gaming. Half Life was easily the most innovative game ever made to date, that is universally accepted, it is not opinionated either, it is a fact. Nothing changed the industry to the level that Half Life did. Everything ranging from physics, character design, facial design, animations, AI, level design, storytelling (within gaming). The list is fucking endless. The Half life games innovated gaming more than anything else ever has, and completely threw the industry upside down....

 

...Twice.

 

"Innovation" in gaming these days just means catching up to Valve.

Kenuty
Kenuty

 @x-TwilighT-x  @djpetitte 

Btw you are not hating on steam service themselves, You're hating on VALVE GAMES which is completely different than what you said above. You my friend are the real ignorance

Kenuty
Kenuty

 @x-TwilighT-x  @djpetitte  @GamerMani  so whats a better service?  :)

GOG? Origin? Uplay? maybe square store? 

 

Just because they don't do the following above doesn't mean a shitload of people don't do business with them, I have dished over 6k worth of games with steam and enjoy every second of it, great service and great sales. I don't really care about the track or any of that shit, I just care about getting my games, playing my games, and getting my moneys worth in an easy fashion and on an interface I can also chat with my friends on, The community is the best there is and thats what makes the service great. Oh Don't believe the guy who had spent 8 years on it and that much money is your next troll response mebbe?

djpetitte
djpetitte like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

 @x-TwilighT-x 

You completely lost me when you said Half Life wasn't innovative. Such a shame. Today we have games like Cod pumping out every year with tons of dlc all at top dollar with virtually no innovation on top of paying for the service and the ISP..  and you have the nerve to call Half Life not innovative. Such a shame.  Go research HL innovations.

Half life came out in 98

-a deep and very nicely done storyline

-unique atmosphereno cutscenes"physical" objects and

-reallife-like reactions (electricity + water = death)

-Very good AI

-great script events

-many different enemies of all sizes

-Moving Mouths for NPCs when talking

- Actual good voice acting

- All "cut scenes" are in-character, as opposed to watching in 3rd person- Diverse environments

- Many interesting weapons

- The fact that Valve didn't just push it out of the door, they actually started over once.

-not just "MONSTERS FROM HELL! KILL KILL KILL KILL!"

- Intense Multiplayer

- An easily modable system

the list goes on..  I was amazed the first time I played the original and more so hl2  

djpetitte
djpetitte

 @PrimeLazarus like i said, TOP DOG haha I realize that is just my humble opinion but Steam really does kick ass. 

PrimeLazarus
PrimeLazarus like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

You spin your own opinions about games as if they are hard facts; then disregard any solid stats that can be given to show that most gamers disagree with you. Stating that TF2 ripped off ANY Return to Castle Wolfenstein is especially revealing of your knowledge and insight into gaming. You write very well, and you aren't mistaken in pointing out that Steam sales figures are not published. Yet, Just because the sales figures are not published doesn't make the first post untrue. Other metrics can be used to determine the relative strength of the Steam DD market besides sales. Most DD markets don't publish their figures, so the lack of those figures doesn't necessarily validate the argument against them being atop the DD market moutain.

 

Not to mention, Steam isn't directly comparable to Blizzard's DD business. The Blizzard DD store only represents one publisher and does not offer a comparable software platform to Steam. It's web-based and first-party. The only similarity is that both use digital distribution.

 

The metric that is commonly used is unique users, for which Steam has more than Xbox Live AND Blizzard.

 

OR, you could just read: http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/02/14/steam-controls-up-to-70-of-the-pc-download-market-and-is-tremendously-profitable/

 

OR

 

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-10/19/steam-milestone-accounts

djpetitte
djpetitte like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 5 Like

 @x-TwilighT-x 

Wow, you really are clueless... and you didn't even answer my question. Maybe because I never speculated sales. :)

 

Yeah sure, with a 89 metascore and game of the year L4D sure was terrible.  Jebus! what the F are you talking about, child?

Maybe you should research a little before posting, just an idea and you might look tad bit smarter.  there's currently 4,797,456 players on steam right now because it's TOP DOG.   Go back to your xbox live and pay for that along with your ISP, and have fun playing with a bunch of 5th graders.

x-TwilighT-x
x-TwilighT-x like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 3 Like

 @djpetitte Which counter strike? Source? 1.6? GO. They all sucked, sorry. I mean I didn't want to get into it, to hurt your feelings, but they're not innovative or graphically impressive. The same goes for Half Life.

 

Left for dead, wow that was the worst 3$ I ever spent to rent a game. I mean honestly, it's just terrible. It wasn't in any way fun to beat. Simple as that.

 

Portal, truly amazing game, very innovative, unique style of game play and entertaining.

 

Team Fortress 2 a simple rip off of Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. I mean sure they did come up with the idea of the game 4 years after IDsoftware did.

 

The holiday sales oh my, I am certainly glad that the "Top Dog" releases mediocre games at half off the original price that was too high to begin with. Great.

 

Thanks Steam!

djpetitte
djpetitte like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 5 Like

 @x-TwilighT-x 

HEH! think I give a crap about the sales? Ever heard of Counter strike, Half life and L4D?  or maybe Portal or TF2?

well if not they're all amazing games.

 

and with all the great deals on Steam and especially the Holiday Sales, they do just fine. 

 

Also, when did I ever speculate sales?.... Steam's TOP DOG, noob.

rogue81
rogue81 like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 8 Like

 @GamerMani

 Why? They're offering a refund to anyone that doesn't like the game. You can't get a refund for "not liking" a new game from any other retailer. So why be angry at them at all?

carolino
carolino

pwned in the face`Z

 

thatswhat i call it

dexxor245
dexxor245

I know Hammerpoint is going to be on Santa's naughty list this year.

poopinpat
poopinpat

almost wasted $15 on this one.  From what I have read, this dev is a constant embarrassment to itself.

Obama_Bin_Ladn9
Obama_Bin_Ladn9

how could you waste your money if you could get a refund??? i think you just embarrassed yourself when you posted this.....  

DriftEJ20
DriftEJ20 like.author.displayName 1 Like

 @Obama_Bin_Ladn9 He'd still be wasting money. Before this, there was no reason to believe anyone would get a refund and plenty of people among those who bought it felt that they had wasted their money. If you somehow managed to get a game and you hated it and somehow sold it for the same price 6 months later, you'd still have wasted your money. That money could have been used towards something else at the time of purchase. A refund is nothing but exchanging wasted money for wasted time. Maybe you come out even, but you're still at a loss and had to spend plenty of time with the feeling of wasted money.

portalzero
portalzero like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 3 Like

Stopped playing the game because of pvp, glad i didnt buy on steam.

djpetitte
djpetitte

i was hoping the game wasnt going to turn out like that.

Rohan233
Rohan233

The game is utter garbage. The developers lie through their teeth on the features in order to get an instant cash grab.  It's alpha stage, you wait 4 hours to respawn or use micro transactions to purchase an instant respawn(instant scam), the textures are disgusting even on Ultra settings, you walk so slow, you cannot swim, you take damage from slowly walking down a hill. No one should even think about buying this game, it is an absolute Scam... go watch Total Biscuit's and RhinoCrunch's review on youtube. TO TOP IT ALL OFF THEY BLACKLISTED MANY USERS' PAYPAL ACCOUNTS FOR ASKING A REFUND AND ALSO BANNED PEOPLE FOR CRITICIZING THE GAME

cds325
cds325

tell you the truth i bought this game on steam first day it came out and before all of the controversy started to happen. Im loving the game and im addicted to it like crack. It saddens me to see this news. The game is so great and they did a stupid decision to mis lead some of their information. yes the game has bugs and its still a beta. But the core gameplay is there and amazing. I really suggest gamers to try it out if they fix their description. Why did this have to happen!? This game could have broken out big like minecraft did! Now they almost ruined their credibility.

Colekern
Colekern

 @cds325 You should also think about trying DayZ when it comes out. It's similar to WarZ (actually, WarZ is a rip-off copy of DayZ), and it will have more content, better optimization, character customization....

 

Well, eventually. It's following a minecraft style development. Those will come in future updates. But it already has more than WarZ. Vehicles, more guns, heck, even helicopters. It also has a 225 km2 map (that's confirmed since you can already play the map in arma 2, but it's being modified for DayZ) and pretty much every building will be enterable.

This comment has been deleted

isahunt
isahunt

 @Gelugon_baat

No.

 

What this guy is lying about is telling the truth before about how awful WarZ is.

 

"My computer was hacked" is right up there in Top 5 lies ever told with "my dog ate my homework".

Tripwolf
Tripwolf

 @Gelugon_baat

 I'd wager anything that he was threatened with legal action. It's obvious he's trying to avoid it. This is a young kid who is probably easily intimidated.

UntraceableHaze
UntraceableHaze

so why hasn't cod been delisted from steam? Oh right repetitiveness is golden!

OGKNav
OGKNav like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

That's what they get for copying DayZ in the first place.

SolidTy
SolidTy

It's good that Steam stood up to the developer, the entire affair was getting ridiculous. This will be a warning to other devs that try to scam gamers with an unfinished game.

HAMODA
HAMODA

I always have faith in Valve !!!

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