Ready or not back on Steam following trademark infringement takedown request
Ready or Not, the tactical first-person shooter that entered early access in 2021, is back on Steam after a takedown request was issued over trademark infringement.
As reported by NME, the issue was related to a level that depicted a nightclub mass shooting and another that was released on the anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting. Ready or Not’s nightclub was called Prysm.
Ready or Not developer VOID Interactive announced that their game was back on Steam earlier today on June 18, saying they were “very sorry for this downtime and hope it wasn’t too much. annoying”.
– VOID interactive (@VOIDInteractive) June 18, 2022
This apology comes after responding to rumors surrounding “the removal of Ready or Not and its associated pages from Steam which occurred on Thursday, June 16.”
“A takedown request has been issued via Steam regarding a suggested trademark violation in our recent Night Club map which was shared as part of our latest Steam update,” VOID Interactive wrote. “We take intellectual property concerns very seriously and, in good faith, have decided to remove the material in question and any reference to it from Ready or Not and any of our social media channels. or other publications.
“Ready or Not will return to the Steam store once the changes are complete. We have also removed the AI update video from our YouTube channel and Steam Store page, and expect them to be restored once Editing process complete.”
VOID didn’t address the controversy surrounding the card’s release on the anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting, but fans on Twitter mentioned that the takedown wasn’t specifically related to that and was instead due to the fact that the name was similar to a chain of nightclubs in the UK.
This isn’t the first controversial moment for Ready or Not, as VOID Interactive has parted ways with publisher Team17. a day after the developer shared it, there would be a school shooting level.
Any advice to give us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an e-mail to [email protected].
Adam Bankhurst is a reporter for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Tic.