Tag: Scam Artist

Banned Steam Seller Is Back, Threatening Steam Users


Gennady Guryanov Alekseevich shouldn’t be selling games on Steam, he was banished from the service in April when Valve discovered that he was using Steam accounts to boost the reviews of his games. In fact, his entire library of games was destroyed: Zi, Julai, and K-Rolik.

Secret Doctrine is a game developed by Luma14Kulan, the alias of Gennady Guryanov Alekseevich and which is currently available on Steam at the high price of $50, despite the aforementioned individual being barred from selling products on it.

Through tough research, MMO Fallout was able to verify that not only is Gennady Guryanov the developer of The Secret Doctrine, but that he is in fact currently going by the username Lama14Kulan. How did we discover this information, you may ask? Via the not-so-subtle about page on the game’s own website.

And since Lama14Kulan is shady enough to get himself banned for underhanded practices, it may not be surprising to see that users are being threatened with lawsuits over their criticism of Guryanov’s business tactics.

For what it’s worth, as with most games of this stripe, while Guryanov may be back on Steam, it hasn’t stopped his game from flopping hard. As of this writing, there is one review of the game (Russian) by a user who is (unsurprisingly) friends with Guryanov. There isn’t a single person playing at this time and sales are expected to be miniscule as publisher Elena Schukina (seen above threatening to sue a user) is trying to play up the controversy as “black PR” to drive more sales.

Given that Guryanov is located in Russia and his game has sold virtually nothing, the threat of lawsuit falls on deaf ears. Members of the community should not allow empty threats from a shady creator stop them from exposing and criticizing problematic players in the Steam economy.

(Source: Guardians of Greenlight)

Wild West Online Denies Involvment By Sergey Titov


If there is one name in gaming the should be avoided at all costs, it is Sergey Titov. A name associated with some of the worst games of all time, including Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing, Titov inspires little confidence in any product that his name is associated with, and it appears that the next title may be Wild West Online.

For more context, Sergey Titov was Executive Producer on the critically panned game The War Z, a Day-Z type game with zombies that was not only pulled from Steam over false advertising, was forced to change its name due to trademark disputes, but caught Titov in controversy after he referred to members of the community as “faggots,” the title has been renamed and relaunched as new titles each with mixed to negative reception, including one utilizing the Romero name. Many of the titles are either shut down or virtually abandoned outside of Infestation: The New Z.

Rumors began flying around that Sergey Titov was involved with Wild West Online in a now-deleted Reddit post. In a statement released on the official forums, 612 Games has denied that Titov is involved in the game, however the company is using the Nightshade engine.

“We’d like to address some concern that has been voiced regarding use of the Nightshade engine. Yes, we are using the Nightshade game engine from Free Reign Entertainment. However, 612 Games is neither a subsidiary of Free Reign, nor financed by Free Reign or Sergey Titov. “

Given his questionable past in releasing titles, it is understandable that gamers would be worried about any involvement from Titov.

Valve Bans Rai Studio Games Over Fraudulent Reviews


ce7dacc8d078db629a2e6268e58d5924e170c0a5

Say hello to the new Digital Homicide.

Electric Zombies got a very small nod here at MMO Fallout last week where we discussed the game Zombie Rush and how it was definitely buying reviews. I mentioned at the time that the legion of bots were busy farming time on a game Electric Zombies by Rai Studio Games. I made a note to keep an eye on Rai Studio Games over the weekend, knowing that sooner or later the chickens would come home to roost and we’d be seeing a tidal wave of positive reviews for their games.

Well the weekend has come and gone, and it’s time to check the hen house. Electric Zombies is now available for purchase, although you can’t buy it. In fact, you can’t buy any of Rai Studio Games’, uh, games. Over the course of the weekend, the purchase button has been completely removed. Unfortunately that means no more Base Squad 49, no more Lands of Devastation, or Rapid Squirrels either. Presumably, RSG’s current list of Greenlight titles will not be eligible for release.

Some more good news: The apparent leaders of the bot group are this guy, this guy, and this guy. The group that the bots congregated around is gone, however the bot accounts are still present with many having been given community bans.

There has been some speculation that these games are being used for money laundering purposes, the game Lemurzin has a $100 DLC that does basically nothing.

MMO Fallout will be keeping an eye out on the legion of review bots (that we know of) and will keep you abreast of any updates as they arise.