Company:Digital Homicide Studios
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video game industry |
| Founded | June 11, 2014 |
| Founders |
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| Defunct | October 2, 2016 |
| Headquarters | Yuma, Arizona , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
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| Products | The Slaughtering Grounds |
Digital Homicide Studios L.L.C. was an American video game developer based in Yuma, Arizona. It was founded on June 11, 2014 by brothers James and Robert Romine. The company has used multiple pseudonyms on their releases, including Imminent Uprising and ECC Games.[lower-alpha 1] Their first game, Forsaken Uprising, was released into Steam Early Access on August 14, 2014, and fully released on December 3, 2014.
In 2016, the company filed a lawsuit against video game critic Jim Sterling, who, in a YouTube video, sharply criticized their second game The Slaughtering Grounds. Sterling was accused of "assault, libel, and slander", with Digital Homicide Studios seeking US$15 million in damages. This was followed by a lawsuit seeking US$18 million damages from 100 Steam users, accusing them of "personal injury" over negative comments, resulting in Steam removing all of the developer's games from the platform due to hostility towards customers. Both lawsuits were later dropped.
Lawsuits
Digital Homicide Studios' first fully released game, The Slaughtering Grounds, was released on October 31, 2014. The game did not attract much attention until it was criticized by Jim Sterling (formerly of The Escapist) as a "new 'worst game of 2014' contender",[1] citing its poor graphics, numerous glitches, bad controls, short music loops, and prominent use of clashing third-party models and textures not made by the developer.[2] Sterling also accused the developers of deleting negative feedback on the game from Steam's review page, as well as banning users who criticized it.[2] The developers responded by filing a take down notice over Sterling's video.[1]
On March 4, 2016, James Romine filed a lawsuit against Sterling for "assault, libel, and slander", seeking over US$10 million in damages,[1][3] which was later increased to US$15 million.[4] On September 12, 2016, he filed an additional lawsuit against 100 Steam users for "personal injury" for a total sum of US$18 million.[5] This was followed by a request for a subpoena against Valve Corporation for the identities of those 100 users.[5][6] Later that day, Valve removed the entire catalog of Digital Homicide Studios, consisting of 21 games and 15 pieces of downloadable content, from Steam, stating Valve had "stopped doing business with Digital Homicide for being hostile to Steam customers."[4] On October 2, 2016, Digital Homicide Studios dropped the lawsuit against the Steam users, with James Romine stating the studio was "destroyed" due to it.[7]
After months of legal stalling and setbacks due to technicalities, on February 21, 2017 James Romine agreed with Sterling's defense lawyer to drop the lawsuit with prejudice. Romine agreed to refrain from pursuing the lawsuit and the charges launched against Sterling again, and to never file another DMCA takedown without first considering whether Sterling was engaging in fair use.[8]
Games developed
| Year | Title | Developed as | Published as | Released on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | The Slaughtering Grounds | Imminent Uprising | Digital Homicide Studios | October 31, 2014 |
| Forsaken Uprising | December 3, 2014 | |||
| 2015 | Temper Tantrum | Digital Homicide Studios | May 22, 2015 | |
| Deadly Profits | May 29, 2015 | |||
| Medieval Mercs | July 1, 2015 | |||
| Devils Share | ECC Games[lower-alpha 1] | Game Portal Publishing | July 31, 2015 | |
| Attrition: Nuclear Domination | Micro Strategic Game Designs | Micro Strategic Game Designs | August 7, 2015 | |
| Galactic Hitman | ECC Games[lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 1] | Game Portal Publishing[lower-alpha 2] | September 17, 2015 | |
| 2016 | Krog Wars | Digital Homicide Studios | Digital Homicide Studios | April 12, 2016 |
| Starship: Nova Strike | April 12, 2016 | |||
| Dungeons of Kragmor | April 29, 2016 | |||
| Mini Attack Submarine | May 27, 2016 | |||
| Winged Knights: Penetration | May 27, 2016 | |||
| Withering Kingdom: Arcane War | May 27, 2016 | |||
| Wyatt Derp | May 27, 2016 | |||
| Wyatt Derp 2: Peacekeeper | May 27, 2016 | |||
| The Decimation of Olarath | June 17, 2016 | |||
| Gnarltoof's Revenge | June 17, 2016 | |||
| Paranormal Psychosis | June 20, 2016 | |||
| Withering Kingdom: Flurry of Arrows | R. Romine | R. Romine | August 26, 2016 | |
| Operation: Global Shield | J. Romine | Digital Homicide Studios | September 2, 2016 |
Notes
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Klepek, Patrick (March 17, 2016). "Angered Game Developer Sues Critic Jim Sterling For $10 Million". Gawker Media. http://kotaku.com/angered-game-developer-sues-game-critic-jim-sterling-fo-1765484317. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sterling, Jim (November 10, 2014). "The Slaughtering Grounds: A Steam Meltdown Story". Defy Media. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/9884-The-Slaughtering-Grounds-Developer-Meltdown. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ↑ Cosimano, Mike (March 17, 2016). "Indie developer Digital Homicide sues Jim Sterling". ModernMethod. http://www.destructoid.com/indie-developer-digital-homicide-sues-jim-sterling-349283.phtml. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Parsons, Don (September 16, 2016). "[Updated Digital Homicide's Games Removed From Steam"]. http://techraptor.net/content/digital-homicides-games-removed-steam. Retrieved September 17, 2016.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Grosso, Robert (September 16, 2016). "Digital Homicide Suing 100 Steam Users for 18 Million". https://techraptor.net/content/digital-homicide-suing-100-steam-users-18-million. Retrieved September 17, 2016.
- ↑ Good, Owen S. (September 17, 2016). "Steam removes games of developer seeking subpoena for users' information (Correction)". Vox Media. http://www.polygon.com/2016/9/17/12951756/digital-homicide-lawsuit-jim-sterling-steam-users-valve. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
- ↑ Good, Owen S. (October 3, 2016). "Developer seeking Steam users' identities for lawsuit withdraws case, saying his studio 'is destroyed'". Vox Media. http://www.polygon.com/2016/10/3/13153766/digital-homicide-lawsuit-sue-threats-subpoena-steam-users-jim-sterling. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
- ↑ Yin-Poole, Wesley (February 22, 2017). "Jim Sterling comes out on top as lawsuit with Digital Homicide dismissed". Gamer Network. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-02-22-long-running-lawsuit-between-jim-sterling-and-digital-homicide-finally-comes-to-an-end. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
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