Update: Sega has contacted us to provide new information about what happened:
“Earlier this week, one of our games was incorrectly marked on SteamDB. We use anti-piracy software to protect our games on a large scale, but sometimes it makes mistakes. SEGA will continue to fine-tune these systems to prevent this in the future and we appreciate SteamDB cooperating with us to quickly resolve the issue.“
The attorneys of SEGA have accused SteamDB, a web-database that tracks Steam games, of illegally distributing Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
In a post on Twitter, Pavel Djundik, creator of SteamDB has said the following:
“Sega’s lawyers are trying to tear down SteamDB’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon page by insisting that we are the ones distributing the game..”
Can anyone help getting in touch with SEGA?
Their lawyers are trying to take down Yakuza: Like a Dragon’s SteamDB page claiming that we distribute the game.
I took the page down because they did not reply to the first abuse report and sent a new one to our hoster.
— Pavel Djundik (@thexpaw) March 29, 2021
Well, the accusation is wrong, as SteamDB simply offers analytical information about the games available on Steam, rather than offering the games themselves. “SteamDB does not support piracy,” Djundik said in a subsequent tweet. “It does not offer downloads, it does not sell keys, it is not linked to any website that performs these skills.”
It therefore seems that it is an accident or a lack of communication on the part of the Sega team. Djundik has said in his Twitter thread that SteamDB receives at least one accusation in error annually, at least, from companies that accuse the web of illegal distribution of games, not realizing that it is actually a database. He has also specified that he is in contact with representatives of Sega of America to resolve the situation.
For now, the Yakuza: Like a Dragon page has disappeared from SteamDB. When we search for the game, a message pops up: “This page has been removed because SEGA is claiming that they distribute the game here, and not us.”
