Acram Digital games removed from Steam after rogue staffer manipulates reviews
"This is my individual, bad behaviour, not the team, so I would like to blame me, not the devs," says Grzegorz Kubas
Steam has removed all Acram Digital games from its storefront after receiving multiple reports of review manipulation.
Following an investigation, it was discovered that Acram staffer Grzegorz Kubas had been trying to inflate review scores for digital board games Rails to Riches and Eight-Minute Empire.
"This is against our policy, and something we take very seriously," said Steam in a statement.
"Because of Grzegorz's actions, we have removed all games/DLC developed by Acram from our store, and will no longer be doing business with him. Existing owners will be able to keep their titles."
Taking to Reddit in the wake of Steam's decision, Kubas apologised for his actions, saying it came from a place of "frustration" after a few "bad, unfair reviews".
"This is my individual, bad behaviour, not the team, so I would like to blame me, not the devs," he said. "It's a lesson for the rest of my life and it will not happen again, ever."
Kubas added that all AppStore, Google Play, and Amazon reviews for the games were real, and that Acram Digital has never paid for positive reviews.
"It was only my six fake accounts on Steam, done in amateur way, from the same computer, the same method of payment, the same IP," he said. "I was very frustrated.
"We have great developers, passionate in board games. They work very hard to deliver quality games. We listen to the players and we have implemented the features they asked for."