Originally published at: http://statelyplay.com/2018/05/07/looks-like-acram-digitals-been-a-naughty-naughty-boy/
iOS, Android, PC/Mac/Linux •
Acram Digital made their digital name with a well done port of Steam: Rails to Riches and, later, Ryan Laukat’s Eight-Minute Empire. Both games nailed what made their cardboard cousins so much fun and presented everything polished to a glistening shine. Even better, their releases weren’t just for mobile, but the PC/Mac/Linux crowd could get in on the fun as well via Steam. Looks like those salad days are behind us, however, as all of Acram’s titles have been removed from Steam due to the folks at Acram being naughty.
Last week the powers-that-be over at Steam posted a rather shocking announcement in regards to Acram:
We've received a number of reports for Steam review manipulation on the titles Steam: Rails to Riches and Eight-Minute Empire, from Acram Digital. After investigating these reports we have found that the developer, Grzegorz Kubas, has been trying to inflate the user review score for his titles. This is against our policy, and something we take very seriously.Because of Grzegorz’s actions, we have removed all games/DLC developed by Acram from our store, and will no longer be doing business with him. Existing owners will be able to keep their titles.
Woof. Now, I don’t have any of Steam’s data regarding what they found but, if true, is pretty damning. First of all, as someone who had to deal with this kind of crap when PT had its previous owners, pumping up your own game without making it clear that it’s you doing said pumping is pretty slimy. Secondly, I don’t think you would need to read the small print on any agreements you made with Steam to know that the act is slimy. None of this makes Acram look good.
Acram was about to enter into Early Access and beta with their port of Istanbul. How will this affect them going forward? Not positively, I’m sure. They aren’t a huge company so losing a portal for sales has to hurt. How many sales were via Steam vs. mobile is something no one is going to tell us, so maybe it doesn’t hurt as much as it sounds like it will.
We’ll try to get a hold of Acram and see if they can fill us in on any details regarding the accusations and how Istanbul will be affected. Stay tuned.
- Steam: Rails to Riches for iOS Universal, $5
- Steam: Rails to Riches for Android, $5
- Eight-Minute Empire for iOS Universal, $5
- Eight-Minute Empire for Android, $5