The developer of DeadPoly says a coordinated Steam review attack falsely accused the game of running a cryptocurrency miner, then offered to remove the reviews if political messaging was added to the game and its store page. The developer refused, published recordings and screenshots, and reported the incident to Steam and Discord. The callers’ identities, affiliations and any official platform or legal outcome have not been independently established.
What happened to the DeadPoly developer?
According to public posts from the account u/deadpoly, the incident began during a Steam Daily Deal on October 23, 2026. A review accused DeadPoly of mining cryptocurrency. The developer says that post quickly gained upvotes and awards, after which additional reviews repeated the allegation.
The developer described the reviews as fake and said the timing made the attack especially damaging: a sudden negative claim appeared while the game had prominent promotional visibility. No verified source has published a review count, bot count, sales loss or technical evidence that the game mined cryptocurrency.
How did the alleged blackmail attempt work?
The developer says a person claiming to be the “mastermind” contacted them on Discord at about 5:50 p.m. on October 24. At approximately 1:30 a.m. on October 25, three people joined a Discord call that lasted about 90 minutes, according to the developer’s account.
During the call, the group allegedly offered to remove the accusations—or replace them with positive reviews—if the developer endorsed a political group on the Steam store page and added matching messaging inside the game. The developer also says the callers threatened to use prominent streamers to amplify the cryptocurrency-miner claim. One caller reportedly said: “Look, pal, I make one video saying your game is a crypto miner, and POOF, it’s GONE!”
The public account did not identify the political group. Online speculation about an ideology or organization is not evidence of who made the demand, so those theories cannot be treated as established facts.
What did the developer do?
The developer says they rejected the demand, stating that they were not for sale. They later posted edited footage of the call and screenshots describing the alleged review activity. The account says the attackers then published videos using an AI-generated image of the developer, disclosed the developer’s full name and made further accusations.
The developer also says they sent information to Steam and Discord. They reported verifying at least one review account through a Steam friend request and preserving recordings and screenshots. Those materials are claims by the developer; the reviewed accounts do not independently authenticate the recordings or prove that every review was automated.
What is independently reported?
IXBT Games reported the broad outline, identified the project as DeadPoly and the studio as TFL Games, and said the developer rejected the demand. That report supports the existence of the public dispute, but it does not establish the callers’ identities, the organization behind them or the truth of the cryptocurrency-miner allegation.
The available account also does not document a confirmed response from Steam, Discord, law enforcement or a court. As of the reported updates through October 26, 2026, there was no verified legal finding or platform ruling available.
Why does the alleged attack matter for Steam developers?
The incident illustrates how a reputation attack can be used as leverage without an initial demand for money. A false technical accusation can spread through visible reviews during a sale, while the threat of influencer amplification raises the pressure to respond immediately. In this account, the requested concession was political speech in the game and on its store page.
That does not make the allegations proven, and it does not show that Steam’s systems or any particular streamer network was involved. It does show why developers should distinguish between a genuine customer complaint and a coordinated demand tied to removing reviews or restoring a rating.
What should a developer preserve if this happens?
Evidence can disappear when posts, accounts or videos are deleted. A developer facing a similar situation should preserve original files and timestamps, capture the complete review pages and messages, record account names and profile URLs, and keep copies of any call recordings in their original format. Reports should go through the platform’s official channels and the relevant communications service, with a clear timeline and links to the material.
Publicly responding carries its own risks. Publishing edited excerpts may help explain the allegation, but it can expose personal information or amplify an attacker’s claims. Developers should remove private data from screenshots, avoid identifying an unconfirmed group as responsible, and consider professional legal or security advice before naming individuals.
What remains unproven?
- The identities of the callers and whether they acted as part of a named political organization.
- Whether the Steam reviews were generated by bots, coordinated by multiple people, or simply posted by unrelated accounts.
- Whether DeadPoly contained any cryptocurrency-mining code.
- Whether Steam or Discord removed content, suspended accounts or opened an investigation.
- Whether the dispute produced criminal charges, civil claims or any court decision.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was DeadPoly actually found to contain a cryptocurrency miner?
No verified technical finding in the available accounts confirms that claim. The accusation appeared in Steam reviews, while the developer says it was false and part of an attempted pressure campaign.
Did the alleged attackers demand money from the developer?
The reported demand was not a cash payment. The developer says the callers wanted political support on the store page and in the game in exchange for removing or replacing reviews.
Who was behind the Discord call?
The callers’ identities and affiliations remain unverified. The developer’s posts describe one person claiming to be the mastermind and three people taking part in the later call, but no independent source identifies them.
Has Steam confirmed what happened?
The developer says information was submitted to Steam, but the available reports do not document a confirmed Steam response, enforcement action or final review decision.