{"id":1917557,"date":"2026-05-04T18:47:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T15:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1917557"},"modified":"2026-05-04T18:47:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T15:47:44","slug":"steam-stops-indie-developer-from-releasing-a-game-for-infringing-the-copyright-of-his-own-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1917557","title":{"rendered":"Steam stops indie developer from releasing a game for infringing the copyright of his own work"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Steam stops indie developer from releasing a game for infringing the copyright of his own work<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Wired shut.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/ss_00a586ecab6ba5cc432892c5921133e76efe33ad.1920x1080.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Anime-style girl in a maid outfit running through a colourful cityscape with floating cars and bright building advertisements.\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"ss_00a586ecab6ba5cc432892c5921133e76efe33ad.1920x1080.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Daikichi_EMP \/ Digital Ramen Studio<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Vikki Blake avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/1533038852.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Vikki Blake avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"1533038852.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/vikki-blake\">Vikki Blake<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Contributor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-05-04T18:47:44+00:00\">May 4, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/steam-stops-indie-developer-from-releasing-a-game-for-infringing-the-copyright-of-his-own-work?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          3 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>A Japanese indie developer has been blocked from selling his game on Steam for copyright infringement, despite owning the copyright to the IPs Steam believed has been infringed.<\/p>\n<p>As Daikichi_EMP prepared to release a playable demo of his new title, Wired Tokyo 2007, Steam blocked the release on the grounds it could be infringing a &#8220;third-party intellectual property&#8221;.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"WIRED TOKYO 2007 \u30c8\u30ec\u30fc\u30e9\u30fc\u30e0\u30fc\u30d3\u30fc 20260429\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MJlq70_jwEo?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/MJlq70_jwEo\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">WIRED TOKYO 2007 \u30c8\u30ec\u30fc\u30e9\u30fc\u30e0\u30fc\u30d3\u30fc 20260429<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>WIRED TOKYO 2007.<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MJlq70_jwEo\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Valve pointed out that some screenshots of the game contain &#8220;board game objects&#8221; from board games Second Best and Dinostone, which is true. However, they too were developed by Daikichi, albeit under different names \u2013 and the developer doesn&#8217;t know how to prove it.<\/p>\n<p>Daikichi shared the conundrum on <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Wired_Tokyo\/status\/2049645334692065785\">X\/Twitter<\/a>, and the story was picked up by Japanese games site, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamespark.jp\/article\/2026\/04\/30\/165894.html\">Game Spark<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed_wrapper\" data-domain=\"twitter.com\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"ja\">\u3053\u306e\u3042\u305f\u308a\u306e\u30b9\u30c6\u30fc\u30b8\u5185\u306e\u30dc\u30fc\u30c9\u30b2\u30fc\u30e0\u306e\u30e2\u30c1\u30fc\u30d5\u3092\u753b\u50cf\u3060\u3051\u5dee\u3057\u66ff\u3048\u308c\u3070Steam\u306e\u5be9\u67fb\u901a\u308b\u3068\u601d\u3046\u3093\u3067\u3059\u3088\u3002<\/p>\n<p>\u3067\u3082\u3001\u3053\u308c\u306f\u81ea\u5206\u306e\u4f5c\u54c1\u306a\u306e\u306b\u300c\u7b2c\u4e09\u8005\u306e\u77e5\u7684\u8ca1\u7523\u306e\u4fb5\u5bb3\u306e\u7591\u3044\u300d\u3068\u8a00\u308f\u308c\u3066\u3001\u305d\u3046\u3057\u306a\u3051\u308c\u3070\u306a\u3089\u306a\u3044\u7406\u7531\u306f\u5168\u304f\u7121\u3044\u3067\u3059\u306d\u3002<\/p>\n<p>\u6839\u62e0\u306f\u7533\u8acb\u6642\u306b\u63d0\u793a\u3057\u3066\u308b\u306e\u306b\u30c0\u30e1\u306a\u3093\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f<br \/>\u3069\u3046\u3057\u308d\u3068\uff1f\uff1f\uff1f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/l8j6pcVGE3\">https:\/\/t.co\/l8j6pcVGE3<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/q73pShQs4t\">pic.twitter.com\/q73pShQs4t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 WIRED TOKYO 2007 (@Wired_Tokyo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Wired_Tokyo\/status\/2049645334692065785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry to everyone for the delay in the Steam demo review,&#8221; the developer wrote on social media, as translated via machine (thanks, <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/indie-developer-lands-in-steam-approval-limbo-after-being-flagged-for-ip-infringement-over-in-game-references-their-own-past-work\/\">Automaton<\/a>). &#8220;The motif of a board game I personally created in the past, placed within the game Wired Tokyo 2007, is getting caught by Steam&#8217;s side as third-party intellectual property.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not a third party \u2013 it&#8217;s just me wanting to use my own intellectual property rights myself \u2013 so I have no idea what the meaning of this is at all.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Despite explaining this to Steam support, the team remain unconvinced, and are demanding he provide evidence of licence agreements or IP ownership, or confirmation via their legal representation. As an indie developer, Daikichi says he cannot easily do this.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think swapping out just the images for the board game motifs in this stage would get it through Steam&#8217;s review,&#8221; he added. &#8220;But, this is my own work, yet I&#8217;m being told there&#8217;s &#8216;suspicion of infringing on third-party intellectual property&#8217;, and there&#8217;s absolutely no reason I should have to do that.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Even though I&#8217;ve provided the evidence during the application, it&#8217;s still not good enough? What am I supposed to do???&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The developer has now resubmitted his demo along with a document to grant himself &#8220;permission&#8221; to use his own work. He has yet to receive a response, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/4643540\/WIRED_TOKYO_2007_Demo\/\">demo is still listed<\/a> as &#8220;coming soon&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>A Japanese indie developer has been blocked from selling his game on Steam for copyright infringement, despite owning the copyright to the IPs Steam believed has been infringed.<\/p>\n<p>As Daikichi_EMP prepared to release a playable demo of his new title, Wired Tokyo 2007, Steam blocked the release on the grounds it could be infringing a &#8220;third-party intellectual property&#8221;.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"WIRED TOKYO 2007 \u30c8\u30ec\u30fc\u30e9\u30fc\u30e0\u30fc\u30d3\u30fc 20260429\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MJlq70_jwEo?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/MJlq70_jwEo\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">WIRED TOKYO 2007 \u30c8\u30ec\u30fc\u30e9\u30fc\u30e0\u30fc\u30d3\u30fc 20260429<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>WIRED TOKYO 2007.<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MJlq70_jwEo\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Valve pointed out that some screenshots of the game contain &#8220;board game objects&#8221; from board games Second Best and Dinostone, which is true. However, they too were developed by Daikichi, albeit under different names \u2013 and the developer doesn&#8217;t know how to prove it.<\/p>\n<p>Daikichi shared the conundrum on <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Wired_Tokyo\/status\/2049645334692065785\">X\/Twitter<\/a>, and the story was picked up by Japanese games site, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamespark.jp\/article\/2026\/04\/30\/165894.html\">Game Spark<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed_wrapper\" data-domain=\"twitter.com\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"ja\">\u3053\u306e\u3042\u305f\u308a\u306e\u30b9\u30c6\u30fc\u30b8\u5185\u306e\u30dc\u30fc\u30c9\u30b2\u30fc\u30e0\u306e\u30e2\u30c1\u30fc\u30d5\u3092\u753b\u50cf\u3060\u3051\u5dee\u3057\u66ff\u3048\u308c\u3070Steam\u306e\u5be9\u67fb\u901a\u308b\u3068\u601d\u3046\u3093\u3067\u3059\u3088\u3002<\/p>\n<p>\u3067\u3082\u3001\u3053\u308c\u306f\u81ea\u5206\u306e\u4f5c\u54c1\u306a\u306e\u306b\u300c\u7b2c\u4e09\u8005\u306e\u77e5\u7684\u8ca1\u7523\u306e\u4fb5\u5bb3\u306e\u7591\u3044\u300d\u3068\u8a00\u308f\u308c\u3066\u3001\u305d\u3046\u3057\u306a\u3051\u308c\u3070\u306a\u3089\u306a\u3044\u7406\u7531\u306f\u5168\u304f\u7121\u3044\u3067\u3059\u306d\u3002<\/p>\n<p>\u6839\u62e0\u306f\u7533\u8acb\u6642\u306b\u63d0\u793a\u3057\u3066\u308b\u306e\u306b\u30c0\u30e1\u306a\u3093\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f<br \/>\u3069\u3046\u3057\u308d\u3068\uff1f\uff1f\uff1f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/l8j6pcVGE3\">https:\/\/t.co\/l8j6pcVGE3<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/q73pShQs4t\">pic.twitter.com\/q73pShQs4t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 WIRED TOKYO 2007 (@Wired_Tokyo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Wired_Tokyo\/status\/2049645334692065785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry to everyone for the delay in the Steam demo review,&#8221; the developer wrote on social media, as translated via machine (thanks, <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/indie-developer-lands-in-steam-approval-limbo-after-being-flagged-for-ip-infringement-over-in-game-references-their-own-past-work\/\">Automaton<\/a>). &#8220;The motif of a board game I personally created in the past, placed within the game Wired Tokyo 2007, is getting caught by Steam&#8217;s side as third-party intellectual property.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not a third party \u2013 it&#8217;s just me wanting to use my own intellectual property rights myself \u2013 so I have no idea what the meaning of this is at all.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Despite explaining this to Steam support, the team remain unconvinced, and are demanding he provide evidence of licence agreements or IP ownership, or confirmation via their legal representation. As an indie developer, Daikichi says he cannot easily do this.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think swapping out just the images for the board game motifs in this stage would get it through Steam&#8217;s review,&#8221; he added. &#8220;But, this is my own work, yet I&#8217;m being told there&#8217;s &#8216;suspicion of infringing on third-party intellectual property&#8217;, and there&#8217;s absolutely no reason I should have to do that.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Even though I&#8217;ve provided the evidence during the application, it&#8217;s still not good enough? What am I supposed to do???&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The developer has now resubmitted his demo along with a document to grant himself &#8220;permission&#8221; to use his own work. He has yet to receive a response, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/4643540\/WIRED_TOKYO_2007_Demo\/\">demo is still listed<\/a> as &#8220;coming soon&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Steam stops indie developer from releasing a game for infringing the copyright of his own work Wired shut. Image credit: Daikichi_EMP \/ Digital Ramen Studio News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on May 4, 2026 3 comments A Japanese indie developer has been blocked from selling his game on Steam for copyright infringement, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1917557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1917557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1917557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1917557\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1917557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1917557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1917557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}