SteamSpy tracks a whole lot of data regarding Steam games, including number of owners, number of active players, and average playtimes. That data’s all available publicly through Steam’s API. Nevertheless, some developers and publishers don’t like having that information so easily available.
Techland, makers of Dead Island, Dying Light, and the Call of Jaurez series recently requested their titles no longer be shown on the service. The owner of SteamSpy took to Twitter to wonder if he should continue honoring these requests, then decided that the answer to that question is “no.”
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In the last 1,5 years there were no incidents where developer was hurt because of his data being exposed on Steam Spy.
— Steam Spy (@Steam_Spy) August 25, 2016
SteamSpy has now restored all previously missing data to the service, including Paradox titles, Kerbal Space Program, and the bewildering Bad Rats.
On one hand, this data is all publicly available with the right amount of homework, meaning that SteamSpy isn’t revealing information that couldn’t be uncovered any other way. But the data it presents is easily misinterpreted, often leading to false conclusions eagerly jumped at by fans looking to prove a pet theory. It’ll be interesting to see if this story develops further in the days to come.
