Well-received horror game No Players Online has returned to Steam after nearly three weeks of unavailability, which its developer Beeswax Games has blamed on an “unfounded” DMCA takedown notice filed by a “former friend”.
No Players Online is a narrative adventure in which players explore the files of a ’90s desktop PC in order to uncover the secrets of a long-abandoned shooter. It started life as a short Game Jam title in 2019, garnering positive critical attention and something of a cult following – and an expanded reimagining was launched for Steam at the start of November. Not long after, keen-eyed horror fans began noticing it had disappeared, with Beeswax Games initially appearing unsure why, and promising to “figure out what’s going on”.
Three weeks on, Beeswax Games has announced No Players Online’s return to Steam, shedding some light on the reason for its initial disappearance. “[The game] was removed from steam for nearly three weeks right after launch, following a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) claim made by a former friend,” the studio explained in a message shared on its website. “They claimed to be a co-author of the game despite not having done anything for it. No Players Online was made completely from scratch by our team.”
Beeswax, which counts the 2019 game’s trio of creators – Adam Pype, Tibau Van den Broeck, and Viktor Kraussays – among its number, say the unnamed individual “recklessly filed the DMCA to Steam without any notice”, resulting in the game’s removal a little over a week after launch. “We immediately filed a counter-notice,” it continued, “and today the game has been reinstated after the time for them to respond has passed.”
“It’s crazy to me that someone can just take down our game by filling out a simple form,” it added. “It’s been tough trying to reconcile with this betrayal from someone I considered a dear friend.” Beeswax doesn’t detail the specifics of the disagreement, only saying it attempted to offer clarity to the claimant prior to the filing that “their allegations were completely unfounded”.
“This situation has had a significant impact on us,” it continued, “especially given how crucial the first months after release are for small indies like us.” The studio says it spent a “ton of money” over the two and a half years it took to complete No Players Online, and that its temporary removal from Steam means it “lost out on much needed momentum and revenue”. As a result, Beeswax is “unsure if [it] will be able to recover financially” given its “already thin margins”, and says the future of the studio is uncertain. However, it remains “committed to doing all that we have planned still for No Players Online”.
DMCA copyright claims have proven highly controversial over the years, given the ease with which they can be abused. In 2023, for instance, Soviet city-builder game Workers & Resources was temporarily pulled from Steam following a “nonsense” DMCA notice from an angry fan, while Destiny 2 studio Bungie launched legal action against a disgruntled YouTuber in 2022, accusing them of maliciously filing fraudulent takedown notices against other content creators in retaliation for a DMCA filing by Bungie’s own team.
