RimWorld is a promising sci-fi colony sim that recently hit Steam Early Access. Taking inspiration from sources like Dwarf Fortress, Dune, and Firefly, building a massive simulation system around life on the frontiers of space. Its 1,000+ are currently overwhelmingly positive, so it seems that developer Ludeon Studios has a hit on its hands. Unfortunately, it seems that a rash of fraudulent purchases are casting a shadow on the game’s launch.
The developer had offered free Steam keys for those who’d purchased the DRM-free version of the game via their own website. But Ludeon founder Tynan Sylvester says the system has been ”hammered by fraudsters,” forcing him to shut down the service. The game is still available DRM-free on the Ludeon website, but purchases from there will no longer provide a Steam key.
Check out our list of the best indie games on PC, and be sure to check where your keys are coming from!
”If you bought before today, you can still get a key. Sylvestar said. “However, I’ve been forced to stop offering Steam keys for those who buy today and in the future. We’ve been getting hammered by fraudsters who are obviously more experienced at this than I. Shutting it down for now is the only way to avoid thousands of dollars in chargeback fees and lost sales. It’s time to take a breather, because I can’t fight this ‘live’.”
You can read the full statement here. The ”fraudsters” are presumably using stolen credit card information to purchase the game, get a key, and list it on a grey-market resale service.
