Why it issues: It is nearly laborious to consider that Garry’s Mod has been round for 20 years. What began as a easy mod constructed on Valve’s Supply Engine in 2004 grew right into a standalone sandbox “recreation” by 2006, the place customers may experiment with 3D fashions and the physics engine. Finally, Garry’s Mod allowed user-created video games and content material, evolving it right into a platform for creation.
On Wednesday, Garry’s Mod developer Facepunch introduced that it might pull all Nintendo-related content material from Steam Workshop. The takedown is in response to Nintendo serving DMCA notices to a number of content material creators and Facepunch. The studio stated the method would take a while as a result of it has to shuffle by twenty years of uploads. It requested the group for assist.
“That is an ongoing course of, as now we have 20 years of uploads to undergo,” Facepunch stated on Steam. “If you wish to assist us by deleting your Nintendo-related uploads and by no means importing them once more, that will assist us lots.”
[PSA] False flaggers on the Garry’s Mod Workshop.
There may be somebody, or a gaggle of trolls going across the Gmod workshop submitting false DMCA claims and shutting down addons, over 10 Gmod addon makers, myself included have been attacked, with over a dozen of our addons gone. pic.twitter.com/ZwVVhQjQlu
– Brewster T. Koopa (@brewsterkoopa) February 11, 2024
The DMCA notices began with particular person Garry’s Mod contributors, spurring hypothesis that the requests had been bogus. A content material creator who goes by Brewster T. Koopa on X referred to as the notices “false flags” from trolls. He identified that the takedowns could not have come from Nintendo as a result of the add-ons being scrubbed date again to 2005 and that the attorneys would have gone after Valve, not particular person creators.
When add-ons started coming down, Koopa emailed Facepunch to tell it that the notices had been pretend. Sadly, Facepunch had already reached out to Nintendo, which verified that the takedowns had been legit.
If the preliminary threats had been bogus, Facepunch shot itself within the foot by contacting Nintendo. The extremely litigious firm will not be past making the most of a offered DMCA state of affairs. Sadly, whether or not the notices had been pretend or actual is a moot level; the consequence is similar – the content material should come down.
“This isn’t a mistake, the takedowns got here from Nintendo,” Facepunch stated on Wednesday. “Actually, that is honest sufficient. That is Nintendo’s content material, and what they permit and do not permit is as much as them. They do not need you taking part in with that stuff in Garry’s Mod – that is their resolution, now we have to respect that and take down as a lot as we will.”
I’ve been assured that the takedowns have been verified by Nintendo as legit, so this may now proceed as deliberate. Sorry. ð«¸ðÂÂÂ�-‘ï¸Â
– garry (@garrynewman) April 25, 2024
Yesterday’s announcement of the removals prompted much more emails, direct messages, and discussion board threads from the group crying that it is simply trolls, some offering “proof.” The response was vital sufficient that Facepunch founder Garry Newman tweeted within the wee hours of Thursday morning that the studio was launching an investigation.
Sadly, that investigation ended about 9 hours later when Nintendo reiterated to Facepunch that it was critical in regards to the takedowns.
“I’ve been assured that the takedowns have been verified by Nintendo as legit, so this may now proceed as deliberate. Sorry,” Newman tweeted.
