Hammerpoint trying to sell a renamed The Warz on Steam

[BoogieManFL]

So with the Steam Summer sales going on, I just noticed a Zombie game called Infestation: Survivor Stories going on the sale and thought hey those screenshots look sweet, let's investigate. I don't know how long it's been on Steam but I figured I'd do my civic duty and warn people away before they get tricked again.

Turns out it's Hammerpoint, the cheats that "made" The WarZ is at it again. They just changed the name and are selling it on Steam once more. Personally I'm surprised they'd let this garbage back in to their store after what they did.

If you're somehow unaware of what happened, well, they were selling a game with a bunch of features that just outright didn't exist. All the screenshots were staged and none of what you saw actually existed in the game. People who tried to get the warning out found their posts deleted and themselves banned. When they finally made a small admittance of an issue they further insulted customers by saying "we're sorry you misread the features". There was no misreading, they DIDN'T EXIST. Google The WarZ and look into it if you want to know more about what they did.

At this point I don't care what changes they've made. They obviously don't care about ethics or providing what they claim to be providing, and are jerks the whole time. It's still early, but I discovered a petition on the Steam forums for it, and it's goal is to see it removed from Steam. *again*

If you care, visit the petition or make your voice heard in the Steam forums.

https://www.change.org/petitions/steam-remove-infestation-survivor-stories-aka-the-warz-from-the-steam-store

Such disgusting behavior shouldn't be rewarded.

 

[hazabaza1]

Yeah, saw that. Don't know why Valve is letting this shit through, they need to get it together.

 

[shrekfan246]

What's always the best part of this thing to me is that the main 'mastermind' behind WarZ in the first place is also the guy primarily responsible for Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing.

Oh Sergey. Will you learn? Or will you continue thinking that the people are completely mindless and unable to read simple internet posts, thus rendering them incapable of deciding to not buy your game?

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Yeah, they've actually been on the store for a good while now. They went back on, already renamed to something that didn't blatantly say they were obviously cashing in on the DayZ craze, around a month after Valve pulled the game from the store and promised to refund anyone who wanted their money back. It hasn't been until now, the Steam Summer Sale, that a few more people have noticed.

...

Just checked Wikipedia. The game was pulled December 19, 2012, and readmitted February 26, 2013. So it was off of Steam for two months. (However, I think you could've gotten it on some other place, probably the developers' website.) Says that the game was renamed, officially, on June 20, 2013, which is a month ago -- I could've sworn it was renamed when it went back up.

 

[Liberaliter]

So what? They just changed the name, probably due to a legal issue, if anyone is stupid enough to buy it, then it's their own fault.

 

[Zeh Don]

...Turns out it's Hammerpoint, the cheats that "made" The WarZ is at it again. They just changed the name and are selling it on Steam once more...

I'm curious here, are you suggesting with the "cheats" moniker and your quotation marks that Hammerpoint didn't actually make The War Z?

You are aware that it is an actual game, right? They're not just taking money and giving people nothing in return - people are getting the advertised game in exchange for their money? Hell, the engine behind War Z, and War Inc., is entirely proprietary - they built it themselves. All of the advertised features are in, it functions, and receives constant updates.

I can understand if people don't like the game, it's little more than a faster version of Day Z after all, but trying to infer that the developers are actively cheating paying customers is a straight up lie.

 

[Jolly Co-operator]

So what? They just changed the name, probably due to a legal issue, if anyone is stupid enough to buy it, then it's their own fault.

I don't think it's quite fair to call someone stupid for buying it. Hammerpoint flat-out lies about their features (features that would actually be pretty cool, if they were true), and even if someone is aware of this, they're probably more familiar with it under the name "War Z", rather than "Infestation".

OT: I'm surprised that Valve was willing to put the game back up. It's one thing to put a bad game up for sale on their service, but I'm baffled as to why the would put one up that actually involved them in a debacle.

 

[Shpongled]

I've seen quite a few posts about this on Reddit and what not, but in none of them has anyone actually talked about the game itself.

Has anyone actually played the re-release? Have they added the stuff that was promised/advertised in The WarZ? Is there any sign of improvement whatsoever? If it's now just a bad game rather than a straight up con like it was, then i can't really use that against Steam because, well, they're retailers, it's their job to sell games, even if the majority of people think they're bad. But if it's still just a crappy alpha being sold as a full game then... well, wtf Valve?

 

[Comocat]

Really someone made a change.org petition to remove a $4 USD game from Steam? Keep fighting the good fight.

 

[Saviordd1]

Umm, hate to interrupt but I'm pretty sure this is old news.

I feel like I've known that they simply re-branded it for a while, I seem to even remember this very site itself running a story on it.

 

[BoogieManFL]

...Turns out it's Hammerpoint, the cheats that "made" The WarZ is at it again. They just changed the name and are selling it on Steam once more...

I'm curious here, are you suggesting with the "cheats" moniker and your quotation marks that Hammerpoint didn't actually make The War Z?

You are aware that it is an actual game, right? They're not just taking money and giving people nothing in return - people are getting the advertised game in exchange for their money? Hell, the engine behind War Z, and War Inc., is entirely proprietary - they built it themselves. All of the advertised features are in, it functions, and receives constant updates.

I can understand if people don't like the game, it's little more than a faster version of Day Z after all, but trying to infer that the developers are actively cheating paying customers is a straight up lie.

They DID cheat their customers. They outright LIED about what was in the game, then insulted people for crying foul on it. Educate yourself on the matter before you comment on it. Anyone willing to do that doesn't deserve to have the same game put back up under a new name.

Umm, hate to interrupt but I'm pretty sure this is old news.

I feel like I've known that they simply re-branded it for a while, I seem to even remember this very site itself running a story on it.

Doesn't matter. The fact it's in the Steam sales right now is what will draw the unwary to it.

Really someone made a change.org petition to remove a $4 USD game from Steam? Keep fighting the good fight.

It's only $4 because of the Steam Summer sales... Price was never the point here anyway.

 

[DoPo]

They DID cheat their customers. They outright LIED about what was in the game, then insulted people for crying foul on it. Educate yourself on the matter before you comment on it.

Funny you say that, did YOU educate yourself on the current state of the game? Come on, be honest, you're just cashing in on old hate. Let's think about it in a logical manner - War Z was THE FIRST GAME ON STEAM TO BE PULLED AND REFUNDS TO BE ISSUED EN MASSE. The entire arrangement was that Steam staff would keep a very close eye on the game and only allow it to be readmitted when they believe the changes made are enough. The game was readmitted, hence the changes were perceived to be enough. And also there wasn't a huge uproar to the game being returned, there wasn't even a little uproar, it passed as news and was quickly forgotten. Hence, one can assume there isn't much to have an uproar about.

Or maybe you have played it and saw for yourself that it's in as bad state as before. Only, by your words, I'm little hesitant to assume you did anything more than see it back on the store page and decided to stir up some shit because...erm, ponies, I guess. What was your reason again?

 

[Erttheking]

Guess it's kinda good that they have that "Metacritic score: 20" in the corner. That should send some red lights flashing.

 

[Comocat]

snip...

It's only $4 because of the Steam Summer sales... Price was never the point here anyway.

I'm not disagreeing they are shady company that fleeced a lot of people I just feel a change.org petition really cheapens that system. There are lots of things that warrant federal responses, crappy MMOs arent one of them. The meta score of 20/100 is not even a quarter turn of my mouse wheel down the page.

 

[Baldr]

It was required to change it's name over a trademark dispute with the Movie World War Z. It actually not that bad of a game now if you can find a nice private server.

 

[Zeh Don]

...Has anyone actually played the re-release? Have they added the stuff that was promised/advertised in The WarZ? Is there any sign of improvement whatsoever?...

I've been playing since before it was up on Steam the first time. Pretty much the entire community agreed at the time that it wasn't ready for Steam - we bought an Alpha, and knew what we were getting ourselves into.

As for all of the features, yeah - they're all in, save for vehicles. As you'll notice, though, they've removed all mention of vehicles from their website. They're pretty open with the community - it was simply harder than they had originally thought. They've shifted development of vehicles to after they release the next map.
As for improvements, there are quite a few - but nothing that radically transforms the game. Animations are a little better, the net code is really quite impressive, allowing for some kick-ass PVP. About a month ago they added PunkBuster on top of FairFight, which is working a real treat against cheaters. Loot is terrifically well handled, and they've gone over the entire map twice now for "polish passes" - adding new buildings, decorations like chairs, tables, etc. It's worth about US$15.00, but you'll get a lot of fun out of it.

They DID cheat their customers. They outright LIED about what was in the game, then insulted people for crying foul on it. Educate yourself on the matter before you comment on it. Anyone willing to do that doesn't deserve to have the same game put back up under a new name.

Well, being as I actually play the game, I call bullshit on your bullshit. Again.
The issue was that they didn't list the game as under-development. This caught a lot of players out, who obviously didn't know it was still being developed. So, refunds were issued and the game removed from Steam until it was corrected. Which it was less than two months later. The game's been back on Steam for ages.
The name change is in regards to World War Z. Now, because you'll rant about them trying to rip people off, keep in mind their previous game was called "War Inc.c". They attempted to create a series of franchises with "War [Suffix]", and lost their legal battles to keep it. So, they renamed the game.
Anyone who has the game now has it because they elect to have it. Hammerpoint aren't cheating or ripping anyone off. I know this because I gave them US$15.00 and they gave me a working game that did exactly what they described it doing. That's more than I say for EA Games.
Hell, they even removed a shit load of the Paid Items because the community didn't like them and their impact. They've actively listened to the community and instigated a lot of changes based solely on their feedback. Shit, they even altered a skin because people didn't like the colour.

But hey - fuck those guys cause, like, people were angry eight months ago and shit and stuff, amirite! BOYCOTT!!11!!ELEVEN!!1

 

[A-D.]

Here's what i know. And this isnt a "they cheated people" rant, they did and they deserve to rot in whatever form of hell exists for the rest of eternity for that.

Im quite certain everyone is aware that War Z is basicly a game that was developed for 6 months, using the engine of another game they made to cash in on the DayZ craze. Which by itself is fine. The problem arises with the logical thought that a mod for another game is still better than a game that had a entire company working on it behind it. You shouldnt be capable of fucking this up.

So here's what they promised:

PvE? Removed.
Vehicles? Removed.
Strongholds? Removed.
Hardcore Mode? Removed.
Amount of people per Server was supposed to be over 100? Still not in the game.
Maps with over 100sqm? Still not in the game.

And only the hardcore mode was actually in the game and had been taken out recently in a patch. Why? Because they cant sell revive tokens to people who play hardcore mode.

The game is a colossal debacle no matter how you look at it and it had promise to be great, i wouldnt deny that, but the short-sightedness and general douchy behaviour of the developers screwed that up big time. Add to that that they are selling the game now, when it is supposed to go free to play in the future. Yeah i call that a cash grab.

 

[Tom_green_day]

I think it's a bit much to say that the whole studio are 'jerks' sure there are probably a few people there that are dicks, but I'm sure there are a lot of hard-working people in that studio. It was marketed and sold poorly, but they aren't completely evil... just some of them.
OT: Do they use the same description as the War Z? Or is it more fitting to the game now? Because apparently, lacking features aside, the game was actually quite fun.

 

[Zeh Don]

OT: Do they use the same description as the War Z? Or is it more fitting to the game now? Because apparently, lacking features aside, the game was actually quite fun.

No, new description. They don't mention any of the up-coming features, it's only what's in the game right now. It's basically an "Arcade" version of Day Z - it isn't simulation heavy.