CEO of Free-To-Play FPS Operation: Harsh Doorstop Threatens Content Creators With Legal Action
CEO of free-to-play multiplayer shooter Operation: Harsh Doorstop has posted a legal threat to any conent creators who don't disclose being paid by competitors.
A warning to all content creators: You may have heard about a free-to-play, community-developed tactical shooter Operation: Harsh Doorstop. The game is in Early Access on Steam now but will be leaving Early Access on February 28th. The CEO of the studio developing this game wants you to know that if you give a bad review, you might face legal trouble.
CEO of tactical shooter Operation: Harsh Doorstop threatens legal action against content creators
The details of how this will all work are murky, but the CEO of developer Drakeling Labs, also known as the content creator Bluedrake42, posted a threat to all content creators on social media. The post reads: “If you have taken over $10,000 USD in payments from studios we compete with in the last 12 months and you don’t disclose that in any “review” you create about our game, then you will have legal problems.” It’s not clear exactly how Drakeling Labs would determine who has and hasn’t been paid by their “competitors,” or what the legal standing would be in that situation, but it’s certainly caught some attention, which is maybe the point. Posting something controversial on social media can be a great marketing strategy.
Bluedrake42 goes on to say in their post: “I will post more warnings clarifying this as we get closer to the release date… but TL:DR if you’re just going to post fake content attacking games that don’t pay you off, then quite frankly I don’t want you covering our game at all.” This crusade appears to be against content creators that decide whether to give good or bad reviews based on whether the studio pays them or not. Currently out of over 17,000 user reviews on Steam, Operation: Harsh Doorstop has a 77% positive score. This is mostly positive, but not overwhelmingly so. If content creators fall somewhere around the average, that is giving this game a 6, 7, or 8 out of 10, where will Drakeling Labs draw the line about what is good or not?
Regarding whom this game’s competitors are, Bluedrake42 clarified on social media, responding to a question about the topic. Bluedrake42 named Delta Force, Battlefield, Arma, and added “Any realistic/semi-realistic FPS.” The CEO went on to say that he “absolutely” believes that content creators have been paid by the developers of these games, and those content creators will do “hit pieces” on games that don’t pay.
Whether genuine or not, this feels far too much like a blanket statement to set up Operation: Harsh Doorstop as the victim of malicious attacks rather than addressing any valid criticism creators have of the game. On social media, Bluedrake42 has made claims that they don’t have the money to pay off content creators, while also threatening legal action (a costly endeavor) against anyone that doesn’t disclose being paid off. So, which is it?
Humoring this argument for a moment, let’s look at one of Operation: Harsh Doorstop’s competitors for a moment: Battlefield. The last release for the Battlefield franchise was Battlefield 2042, which is the lowest reviewed game in the series, both critically and by fans. The game currently sits at 48% positive user reviews on Steam. But Battlefield 2024 still became the fifth best selling game of that year in the US, only under two Call of Duty titles, Madden, and a Pokémon game, all traditional chart toppers. So why would they pay for good reviews from content creators when even the lowest reviewed game in the franchise can still reach that high on best-seller lists?
Reviews are important and they can affect game sales, but when it comes to these huge productions that Bluedrake42 labels as “competitors,” the reviews don’t have as much of an impact. This is why this “warning” rings hollow to me. Fans, journalists, and content creators will have criticism of Operation: Harsh Doorstop. It’s easy to brush it off as “hit pieces” by people who are paid off. It’s a lot harder to accept criticism and try to do better next time. One of these two approaches will lead to a better game.
With this kind of threat out in the open, it’s already discouraging content creators from playing this game. Content creator Phan on social media screenshot Bluedrake42’s post and added: “This is making me less excited to play or even cover OHD in the future… You’re creating enemies with content creators and your potential fan base.” With so many other games to play, it makes sense that a content creator wouldn’t want to risk legal action to play what could easily be a 7/10 free-to-play shooter.
Ultimately, we will have to see if anything comes of this threat and if there are any further updates leading up to Operation: Harsh Doorstop’s release at the end of February.
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