Steam is so poorly moderated that it’s currently selling an empty game folder on its store, with Shadow: Treachery cannot be tolerated billing itself as an episodic FPS, yet there being no actual game stored in the empty folder given to buyers. Despite it containing no game, it’s still available to buy on the Steam storefront, raising questions about how it managed to make its way onto the platform.
Shadow: Treachery cannot be tolerated describes itself as the first in an episodic series, in which players assume the role of “Shadow (Alex Summer) who runs an international criminal empire.” The description continues: “The most interesting feature of this game is that if you shoot the goons and they don’t die, you have to shoot at the places surrounding the attackers to kill them.”
Unfortunately, the few who may be interested in playing this FPS would be left disappointed, as installing it reveals that its folder contains no files whatsoever. Yes, Steam is actively selling a completely empty folder on its storefront, despite an executable file being the most minimal requirement to make it onto the platform. If you buy Shadow: Treachery cannot be tolerated, you’re literally getting nothing in return for your money.
So what gives? Well, some have accused the touted developer of the “game,” Riad Arifin, as orchestrating some form of scam, though it seems much more likely that this is down to sheer incompetence than anything else. Though there’s no confirmation of the circumstances behind the release, the game’s release date is scheduled for March 6th on Steam, while it’s available to download today — it could potentially be a mix-up in which the game was deployed before the executable file was provided.
However, this still doesn’t explain how Steam’s moderators allowed a game missing its executable file to be sold on its store, and how this game has remained available to download throughout the entirety of the day. How has no one at Valve spotted this?
Valve’s poor moderation of Steam has been brought into question many times in the past. Most recently, we described how Steam is allowing a number of hate groups to communicate using the service, freely spreading their anti-Semitic and racist views on the digital download platform.
