A strategy game dubbed ‘FTL in a Warhammer 40,000 skin’ was recently pulled from Steam, with its developer suggesting it may have been on the receiving end of a nuisance DMCA takedown from a troll claiming to be Games Workshop.
Last week, Tundra Interactive posted a message on the Void War Steam forum to say the game was “temporarily unavailable” after it had been pulled from Steam without explanation. The indie developer said it was working with Valve to “resolve” the issue, and pointed to Void War’s continued availability on Itch.io.
Void War is often compared to both indie darling FTL and Warhammer 40,000, Games Workshop’s tabletop wargame set in the grim darkness of the far future — and it’s easy to see why.
The gameplay looks incredibly similar to Subset Games’ hugely popular 2012 ‘spaceship simulation roguelike-like,’ and the aesthetic is very Warhammer 40,000. The voidships themselves look — in Void War’s official art — like Imperial Navy Vessels.
Meanwhile, some of the characters look like Space Marines. There’s an actual Psyker that’s called a Psyker. There are “Imperial Shrineworlds.” There’s mention of “Imperial astrogation authorities.” You get the idea.
Following the takedown, IGN asked Tundra Interactive for comment, and it responded with something quite unusual. It said that it had received a takedown notice from Valve stating that Games Workshop itself had claimed copyright infringement. But here’s what makes this one odd: the only claiming information Valve provided the developer it said, is Games Workshop’s public-facing infringements inbox and the name “Mal Reynolds.”
Mal Reynolds is a name that will be instantly familiar to Firefly / Serenity fans, because that’s the name of the main character, played by Nathan Fillion in the beloved but short-lived sci-fi show. It seems unlikely that Games Workshop would have someone on its books named Mal Reynolds, and that it would come after Void War now, half a year after release on Steam. And it’s worth pointing out Void War is still up on Itch.io, where no DMCA takedown appears to have taken place.
Here’s Tundra Interactive’s comment to IGN in full:
We received a DMCA takedown notice from Valve stating that Games Workshop is claiming copyright infringement. We have not received any other communication from Games Workshop, and the only claimant information Valve has provided is Games Workshop’s public-facing infringements inbox and the name “Mal Reynolds,” which is unusual since that’s the main character from Firefly. We can’t independently verify who actually submitted the notice, and Games Workshop hasn’t responded yet to our email asking them to confirm or withdraw it. We’re following the standard DMCA process and will share further updates when we have confirmed information.
Of course, this may actually be a genuine DMCA takedown by Games Workshop, and there may well be a Mal Reynolds who’s doing the dirty work. Perhaps there’s an official FTL-style Warhammer 40,000 game in the works, and it’s close to a reveal. Neither Games Workshop nor Valve has clarified the matter, and based on both companies’ history when it comes to DMCAs, are unlikely to.
All of which leaves Void War off Steam and Tundra Interactive, like the Imperium Nihilus itself, in the dark. As for Games Workshop, it’s got plenty of official Warhammer 40,000 games in development, including Dawn of War 4, Dark Heresy, and Total War: Warhammer 40,000.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
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