this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2024
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Following his trial for defamation of the families of the children and school staff killed in the Sandy Hook massacre, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is using Valve Corp.’s Steam, the world’s largest digital distribution platform for PC games, to sell an Infowars-themed video game. Jones claims to have earned hundreds of thousands in revenue from the video game, yet he has refused to pay the Sandy Hook families. Alex Jones: NWO Wars also mirrors and cartoonishly repackages the conspiracy theorist’s regularly violent, hateful rhetoric despite the platform’s policies against hate speech.

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[–] ahornsirup@sopuli.xyz 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (4 children)

To the best of my knowledge Valve allows basically everything that's not outright illegal. They aren't nearly as much of a "good" corporation as they're often framed as. They'll happily provide a platform for and take their 30% from anyone, including racists, misogynists, homophobes, etc.

[–] Asayhem@lemmus.org 15 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Or maybe they don't see it's their place to gatekeep the store based on their own morals. If you start - where do you draw the line? Some examples like such games may be obvious, but there will be a lot more that are less so.

If people disagree with the message - nobody forces them to buy it after all and you can block any game from even showing up for you in the store, in my opinion it's plenty enough from the valve's part. I'd rather be the judge myself as to what I want and what I don't want to see and play, rather than any corporation.

[–] Schmidtster@lemmynsfw.com 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

They used to disallow adult games, they don’t allow NFT or crypto.

They have drawn plenty of lines, and moved them when it benefits them. They are just like any other corporation, they just hide it really well and the fans forgive or hide the rest for them.

[–] rabiddolphin@lemmy.world -1 points 10 months ago

NFT and crypto would shoehorn in on their gun skin casino they market to children

[–] ahornsirup@sopuli.xyz 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

The problem with that is that providing a platform and a revenue stream is providing support. Whatever the intent is, that is the result. The issue isn't what I see on the Steam store, it's providing a platform at all.

And yes, obviously there's the question of where to draw the line. But not drawing one at all means providing support for the Alex Joneses of the world. There's no way around that. And I don't think that that's a worthwhile trade.

[–] Ottomateeverything@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

Valve allows basically everything that's not outright illegal

While true, and I agree it's the right thing to do, some things like this and the Rittenhouse game are in a weird murky gray area where one could argue that it's inciting violence etc. And if that someone is a lawyer, they could convince a judge/jury that it is illegal.

I agree that they should allow anything that isn't illegal, but people say this like it's black and white, and legality very much is not black and white.

This is too bad, but yes. They are like any other large corporation, I suppose -- motivated primarily by greed.

[–] TheObviousSolution@lemm.ee 1 points 10 months ago

Unless it pisses off the Chinese government, like the game Devotion that was released from a Taiwanese developer. But I don't think Steam has a high ground so much as it has good PR while not being extremely greedy. In contrast, GOG also removed it, which sort of discredited any high ground they had.