Paradox Interactive has requested that data for all of its games be removed from Steam Spy, a site that aggregates publicly accessible data on Steam Games to produce estimated ownership figures, average players and similar stats.
Steam Spy has complied with the request, making Paradox the first big publisher to have its games removed from the site. Explaining the move, Paradox's Shams Jorjani cites concerns about Steam Spy's accuracy.
@AllGamesChanelT SS numbers are wildly off at times. We'd rather share correct data through ISFE https://t.co/7OqxyX5eZW instead.June 2, 2016
Ive met countless devs that have showed me flawed business plans hinging entirely on the "owners" figure reported by Steamspy on competitorsJune 2, 2016
Steam Spy founder Sergey Galyonkin countered that this amounts to hiding data because some don't understand how to read it. Indeed, Steam Spy is laden with caveats as to the accuracy of its data.
Explaining his decision to remove the data nonetheless, Galyonkin tweeted his belief that it's a developer's right to hide their data.
@DascuMaru I firmly believe Steam Spy should be seen as a useful tool by developers, not as a threatJune 2, 2016
@Lexmechanic @DascuMaru I don't ask for a proof, I'm not a court. It is their games and I think it's their right to hide their data.June 2, 2016
It's an interesting move by Paradox. Could the sudden desire to keep all data official be explained by its May 31 IPO on the Swedish Nasdaq?
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