Here’s how it happened in public: Terraria Re-Logic co-creator and CEO Andrew Spinks published a Twitter topic on Monday morning accusing Google of suddenly and unreasonably suspending his studio’s YouTube, Gmail, Drive and Play accounts. He said he had been without resources for 15 years for almost a month, although he had never violated Google’s rules, and the company refused to clarify the situation.
So, Spinks canceled the Google Stadia edition of Terraria, a beloved independent game from 2011 with an audience of over 30 million players. Re-Logic hadn’t even announced the Stadia version of Terraria still, although rumors recently hit the forums and fans were excited about a new way to play.
Spinks tweeted, “I absolutely did nothing to violate your terms of service, so I can’t understand it any other way than if you decide to burn this bridge. Consider it burnt. #Terraria for @GoogleStadia it’s cancelled. My company will no longer support any of its platforms going forward. “
I absolutely did nothing to violate your terms of service, so I can’t understand it any other way than if you decide to burn this bridge. Consider it burnt. #Terraria for @GoogleStadia it’s cancelled. My company will no longer support any of its platforms going forward.
– Andrew Spinks (@Demilogic) February 8, 2021
Now, this is how it happened behind the scenes, as described to Engadget by a Re-Logic spokesperson: In mid-January, Re-Logic’s main Google services account, Demilogic, received a notice from YouTube saying it was a violation of site policies.
“It was a little confusing for us,” said the spokesman. The developers had not uploaded anything to the Re-Logic channel on YouTube in three months, and no one in their community alerted them to new or offensive content on their account.
Google did not immediately suspend the Re-Logic channel on YouTube. Instead, your initial email said, “We know that you may not have realized that this was in violation of our policies, so we are not enforcing a strike on your channel. We removed the content. ”He suggested no further action by the studio.
Three days later, the entire Demilogic Google account was disabled. This blocked the Re-Logic channel on YouTube, as well as the studio’s access to Gmail, Google Play and Drive. In the weeks that followed, Spinks tried to solve the problem with Google directly and privately, but repeatedly hit the wall.
Re-Logic
“Due to the company’s early days, when Mr. Spinks was the sole employee of the company, there are some inherited connections to the Demilogic account that have been severed,” said the spokesman. “This includes YouTube’s Re-Logic account, a lot of important documents stored in Drive and more. The impact is of a material nature and this has been made clear to Google repeatedly. “
YouTube confirmed to the studio that its channel is clean. It is not yet clear what the initial breach was or whether the Demilogic account will be reactivated.
Which brings us back to the Twitter topic of Spinks.
“My phone lost access to thousands of dollars worth of apps on @Google Play, ”Spinks tweeted. “I had just bought LOTR 4K and I can’t finish it. My @Google Drive the data is completely gone. I can’t access my @Youtube channel. Worst of all is losing access to my @gmail address over 15 years old. “
Google did not respond to a request for comment from Engadget.
Re-Logic
The Re-Logic spokesman said Spinks’ tweetstorm was a calculated move from a studio with no options.
“This is not a position that we take with joy or lightly,” they said. “Google is a long-standing partner, but the inability to resolve this for us, a supposedly valuable partner, over a period of almost a month is not acceptable.”
Based on its Terms of Service, Google has broad authority to close accounts for anything it considers “misuse” and has exercised that power with impunity for years. The company has a history of banning accounts and moving on, leaving users with little information and no recourse to dispute or resolve violations. Re-Logic is just the most recent example of this behavior.
“We are aware of many other incidents along the same lines with a repeated ‘unexpected ban’ pattern, with no information on the reason and no recourse,” said the studio’s spokesman. “This has happened to countless people, as well as developers for Android and more. We hope that our situation will serve both as a cautionary tale for others and as a vehicle to illuminate this subject as a whole. As a result, perhaps a significant change in customer service will occur on Google. It is extremely necessary. “
Terraria arrived on Android devices through the Play Store in 2013 and will remain there, despite the studio’s difficult relationship with Google at the moment. The studio’s spokesman made it clear that Re-Logic will not work with Google on future projects, Terrariarelated or not.
“I will not be involved with a company that values its customers and partners so little,” said Spinks at the end of his Twitter thread. “Doing business with you is a risk.”
Stadia, in turn, is in the process of restructuring. Google closed Stadia’s in-house studios in early February and one of its main hires, former Assassin’s Creed producer Jade Raymond, left the company. After years of empty promises and a growing list of competitors dedicated to cloud games, Stadia looks on the verge of collapse. Then again, I kind of always felt that way.