We’ve seen a lot of controversy in recent years when it comes to developers trying to shut down negative opinions surrounding their game. We’ve seen even more efforts of the YouTube Copyright System being abused by developers for their own needs. However, what we’ve not seen in recent years is a video games developer apparently so hell-bent upon committing every possible kind of PR suicide.

Hammerpoint Interactive, developer of Infestation: Survivor Stories (better known as The Thing Previously Called The War Z) has become infamous in video game circles for poor treatment and even outright breaking laws. From outright lying about the game’s content to the point it was briefly removed from Steam to taking art from The Walking Dead, not to mention stealing a terms of service from League of Legends, the studio has managed to commit countless sins in a very short period of time. Now it seems that while everyone is distracted by the Google+ controversy overtaking YouTube, they would try to sneak something under the radar.

The YouTube gaming media outlet Game Over Man Podcast suddenly received a copyright strike against a parody video of Infestation: Survivor Stories making fun of the game’s flaws. The short video mocked the game’s shortcomings in animations, sudden deaths, major glitches and vast environments with few features. Despite being protected under entertainment and analytical articles of the United States Fair Use Code, the video was still removed while having not infringed upon the copyright in any way. All it had done was proven that an already heavily criticised title was poorly constructed.

Responding to this on their website, the creator of the video cited the fact that how far more popular, far more critical, videos had been ignored and the generally positive response from viewers. Part of the believed reason that this video was targeted over more major channels was due to the far more limited backlash or protests due to having a much smaller fandom, meaning it would be easier for Hammerpoint to get away with their act. It’s not the first time we have seen this performed by a developer, and despite being an outright illegal action it likely will not be the last either.

The video has been re-uploaded onto Dailymotion to avoid similar abuses of the already infamous YouTube system. Further information and responses from Steam users to the video’s removal can be found on the link above.

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