OneSteamuser discovered they were agreeing to a bit more than they expected when scrolling through the licensing agreement for an indie game on Valve’s popular storefront, sharing a picture of the unusual EULA online. Although PC players have grown begrudgingly accustomed to scrolling through lengthy licensing agreements before being able to install and playgames on Steam, the terms laid out by the developers of the indie platformer have some gamers scratching their heads.
First launched in 2003 as a way for the developer to have greater control over releasing updates and patches for its games, Valve’s Steam platform has since grown to dominate digital distribution of PC titles. Despite repeated attempts by publisher EA to establish its own digital storefront, and a steady stream of free games on offer from the rival Epic Games Store, no company has yet been able to match the reach of Valve’s popular service. Just as has become common even in many console games in recent years, Steam users have to agree to sometimes onerouslicensing agreements for gamespurchased on the platform before they are allowed to install them.
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In a new post on the r/Steam subreddit, user PSY-FI64 shared a screenshot of the unusual terms they found in the licensing agreement for indie gameArclight Beat. Described on its store page as a “minimalistic rhythm-based 3D platformer,” the licensing agreement forArclight Beatincludes language that gave many Redditors pause upon reading the fine print. In addition to the usual statements releasing developers and publishers from liability by players, the EULA forArclight BeatonSteamalso states that publisher DigiPen offers no guarantees “that the software is free of malicious programming” such as “viruses, trojan horse programs, worms, macros and the like.”
While it’s not uncommon for players to come across somebizarre things on Steam, it’s usually the content of the games on offer rather than their legal terms of use that give players pause. Some Redditors wondered whether the unusual EULA had possibly been copied and pasted from agreements used for freeware sites, which don’t offer the same sorts of protections against malicious software as Valve provides on Steam. Another commenter joked that reading the ominously-worded warning was like “stumbling on ‘asbestos free’ cereal in the breakfast aisle.” Attempting to find some explanation for the terms of the agreement, other responses pointed out that, since DigiPen is a game design school, the language was likely inserted as a way to protect the school in the event of a student releasing a project that included malicious code.
Despite the unusual language included in its EULA, it’s unlikely thatSteamusers interested in tryingArclight Beat’s musical platforming for themselves will have to worry about their machine becoming infested with viruses. Though players who prefer to err on the side of caution may still want to hold off from installing the game on their newSteam Deck handheld.
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