Warhammer 40K-Inspired FTL Game Pulled from Steam Following Controversial DMCA Claim

Void War, a strategy roguelite reminiscent of FTL but set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, has mysteriously vanished from Steam. This delisting follows a DMCA takedown notice allegedly issued by Games Workshop, the owners of Warhammer. However, the notice seems to have been authored by none other than Mal Reynolds, the fictional captain from Firefly, which raises eyebrows since he’s not affiliated with Games Workshop.

While Void War may not break new ground in gaming, drawing heavily from the 2012 classic FTL and wrapped in Warhammer 40K aesthetics, it’s an indie title that many were excited to try. Unfortunately, players can no longer access it on Steam, although it remains available on Itch.io, where it even comes with a Steam key that still works for adding the game to your account.

According to the developers at Tundra, the takedown was triggered by a DMCA notice sent to Valve, claiming copyright infringement. Interestingly, Tundra has not received any direct communication from Games Workshop regarding this issue, and the game’s continued availability on Itch raises questions about the legitimacy of the takedown.

Tundra stated that Valve’s basis for the complaint included “Games Workshop’s public-facing infringements inbox and the name ‘Mal Reynolds’.” They added, “We have not gotten any response from GW when we emailed that inbox. So right now we can’t independently verify who submitted it beyond what’s in the notice. We’re proceeding through the standard DMCA process to get the page back up, and we’ll post updates as soon as we have confirmed info.”

Games Workshop is known for actively pursuing DMCA notifications, often through a third-party AI that scans for potential copyright violations. Given the indie nature of Void War, it’s likely that it flew under the radar until now. There’s a real possibility that this erroneous takedown could lead to further scrutiny from Games Workshop. The company even encourages its own fans to report copyright infringements.

We’ve reached out to Games Workshop to clarify their involvement in this situation and to inquire whether they have indeed enlisted the help of space pirate Mal Reynolds for these takedowns.