The Valve and Steam Platform Discussion Thread

[LESS T_T]

https://www.zdnet.com/article/steam-bug-could-have-given-you-access-to-all-the-cd-keys-of-any-game/

Steam bug could have given you access to all the CD keys of any game
Bug affected a Steam API and was patched in August. Downgrading your Steam client won't help you get free games.


Ukrainian vulnerability researcher has found a bug that would have allowed him to download all the activation keys (also known as CD keys) made available through the Steam gaming platform, for any game, ever.

Discovered by Artem Moskowsky, the bug resided in Steamworks, a platform that Valve runs to help developers with building and publishing games via its Steam gaming client.

Moskowsky found the bug in a Steam web API located at partner.steamgames.com/partnercdkeys/assignkeys/.

This is the API that lets game developers or affiliates retrieve CD keys made available to Steam users so their customers can activate a game installed via the Steam client.

This API is accessible using a regular Steam account and takes several parameters, but the ones most relevant are appid (representing the game), keyid (representing the identifier of a set of CD keys), and keycount (representing the number of CD keys that Steam needs to return inside a CD key set).

Moskowsky says that under normal circumstances when he attempted to retrieve CD keys for games he didn't own, Steam's API gave him an error, which is what's supposed to happen.

But the researcher found that by setting the keycount parameter to "0" he could bypass the API's limitations and retrieve a file with CD keys belonging to any game, even if the user was not supposed to have access to that game's CD keys collection.

In an interview with ZDNet, Msokowsky told us the bug wasn't complicated to figure out, "but it was not obvious enough" for the casual observer.

"Here, my intuition helped me," he said.

During his tests, and before notifying Steam, the researcher said he was able to generate and download over 36,000 CD keys for the Portal 2 game.

Further, as he explored the bug's reach, he also realized that an attacker can go through all Steam games IDs and gradually download all their CD keys, as the appid and keyid parameters were easy to guess.

Moskowsky reported the bug to Valve in August via the company's HackerOne bug bounty platform, and the company fixed it within days but only recently allowed him to go public with his findings.

It is unclear if anybody else ever found or exploited this issue before Moskowsky stumbling upon it. "Valve did not provide me with this information," the researcher told ZDNet. "But I personally think that no one used the vulnerability." Valve also didn't respond to a request for comment from ZDNet.

The researcher received a $20,000 reward for reporting this particular bug to Valve, one of the largest bug bounties the platform has ever paid.

A month before that, Moskowsky had previously earned Valve's top reward of $25,000 after discovering and reporting an SQL injection flaw in the same Steamworks portal.

Moskowsky tells us he's had a very fruitful year, overall, also previously collecting $18,000 from the ViaBTC mining pool, and another $13,300 from Samsung.

 

[Country_Gravy]

$250K and put him on the payroll.

Good thing he was a Ukrainian and not a real Russian or there would have been keys for everyone as they helped make gaming great again.

 

[LESS T_T]

Halloween Sale is not necessarily for horror-themed games, but for Valve secretly and scientifically trying to measure what is the most horrifying monster of all time.

Here are the results:

#10 - Rust - G-Man aka Garry Newman, an FBI agent who thought he is secretly investigating Gabe Newell. Exposed by Newell at the time of Half-life 1 (reportedly punched in the face), and then turned into a game developer, now making a ton of money with Valve.

#9 - The Forest - The Lone Survivor, known for butchering innocent cannibalistic tribes of remote islands.

#8 - Assassin's Creed Odyssey - AssCreed, ass-shaped former-assassin turned into an RPG imposter. Most horrifying to Codexers, I heard.

#7 - Call of Cthulhu - Cthulhu, it's only seventh? What a wimp.

#6 - Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition - Talking skeletons with genitals. Most adored by Codexers, I heard.

#5 - DARK SOULS III - The Fire Fades Edition - Souls-like. Similar to the RPG imposter, you can't escape them.

#4 - Grand Theft Auto V - Car thieves, actual modern horror. They all once dreamed of becoming a rock star, though.

#3 - PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS - Takeshi Kitano.

#2 - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Game of the Year Edition - Of course, Halloween should have witches.

#1 - Football Manager 2019 - It's official, bigfoot is the most horrifying monster. Hear their sound, you'll know why.

NOW it's back to usual boring weekly top seller by revenues list!

#10 - HITMAN 2
#9 - ARK: Survival Evolved
#8 - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Game of the Year Edition
#7 - OVERKILL's The Walking Dead
#6 - ARK: Extinction - Expansion Pack
#5 - Grand Theft Auto V
#4 - ARK: Survival Evolved Season Pass
#3 - Total War: WARHAMMER II - Curse of the Vampire Coast
#2 - PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS
#1 - Football Manager 2019

Overkill's Dead Walker seems like a flop, earned less than expansions of Total Warhammer 2 and ARK?

And in current global top seller list, it's BELOW Divinity: Origianl Sin 2 (which is not on discount). Oh boy. Makes me little worry about SS 3, eh...

 

[LESS T_T]

NOW it's back to usual boring weekly top seller by revenues list!

#10 - HITMAN 2
#9 - ARK: Survival Evolved
#8 - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Game of the Year Edition
#7 - OVERKILL's The Walking Dead
#6 - ARK: Extinction - Expansion Pack
#5 - Grand Theft Auto V
#4 - ARK: Survival Evolved Season Pass
#3 - Total War: WARHAMMER II - Curse of the Vampire Coast
#2 - PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS
#1 - Football Manager 2019

Overkill's Dead Walker seems like a flop, earned less than expansions of Total Warhammer 2 and ARK?

And in current global top seller list, it's BELOW Divinity: Origianl Sin 2 (which is not on discount). Oh boy. Makes me little worry about SS 3, eh...

The Holy Fury inclines:

#10 - Total War: WARHAMMER II
#9 - ARK: Survival Evolved Season Pass
#8 - HITMAN 2 - Gold Edition
#7 - Football Manager 2019
#6 - Artifact
#5 - Farming Simulator 19
#4 - ARK: Survival Evolved
#3 - HITMAN 2 - Standard Edition
#2 - Expansion - Crusader Kings II: Holy Fury
#1 - PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS

Also HITMAN 2 is doing fine it seems.

 

[Gerrard]

HOW THE FUCK IS PUBG 1ST AGAIN

 

[rusty_shackleford]

HOW THE FUCK IS PUBG 1ST AGAIN

dumb chinks

 

[LESS T_T]

Looks like Steam is leaking again, some hidden app names are exposed via SteamDB?

Nothing that much interesting I can find, though.

Server app for inXile's Wasteland: Frostpoint: https://steamdb.info/app/774581/ (so this is the main app: https://steamdb.info/app/684030/)

Broken Horizon (this is the rumored codename for Lost Planet 4) https://steamdb.info/app/834200/

Furyu1 (probably referring to Japanese developer Furyu, another one of their games coming to PC?) https://steamdb.info/app/981750/

 

[Hirato]

Hooray, now the mad cunts of the world can be ripped off just like they are in their local stores!
Current conversion rate is 1 AUD -> 0.73 USD; closer to 0.716 if you factor in the typical foreign transaction fee of 2%
Valve converted everyone's wallets at a rate of 1 AUD = 0.69 USD, so we aussies already got gypped

Plus their recommendations to game devs were at the same rate, so prices of most things in store have gone up around 8.5% on average!
Some things are cheaper, others even more expensive.

Hooray~!
As an aussie I love being ripped off.
Who'd want to pay a 2% foreign transaction fee when you can pay 8.5% higher prices instead!
Absolute fucking bargain!

 

[Mr. Pink]

they should just start paying people $2.50 to take these. it's only -10% more.

 

[Zarniwoop]

they should just start paying people $2.50 to take these. it's only -10% more.

They'd have to pay me a lot more than that to take one...

 

[Gerrard]

Hooray, now the mad cunts of the world can be ripped off just like they are in their local stores!
Current conversion rate is 1 AUD -> 0.73 USD; closer to 0.716 if you factor in the typical foreign transaction fee of 2%
Valve converted everyone's wallets at a rate of 1 AUD = 0.69 USD, so we aussies already got gypped

Plus their recommendations to game devs were at the same rate, so prices of most things in store have gone up around 8.5% on average!
Some things are cheaper, others even more expensive.

Hooray~!
As an aussie I love being ripped off.
Who'd want to pay a 2% foreign transaction fee when you can pay 8.5% higher prices instead!
Absolute fucking bargain!

You have literally nothing to complain about, ya cunt.

 

[Jenkem]

a lot of newer TVs have steam link (or something similar) built into the firmware so there's no need to sell them

 

[LESS T_T]

The Holy Fury inclines:

#10 - Total War: WARHAMMER II
#9 - ARK: Survival Evolved Season Pass
#8 - HITMAN 2 - Gold Edition
#7 - Football Manager 2019
#6 - Artifact
#5 - Farming Simulator 19
#4 - ARK: Survival Evolved
#3 - HITMAN 2 - Standard Edition
#2 - Expansion - Crusader Kings II: Holy Fury
#1 - PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS

Also HITMAN 2 is doing fine it seems.

When you thought it's just a meme, farming games are serious business.

#10 - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Game of the Year Edition
#9 - Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Full Edition
#8 - Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition
#6 - Grand Theft Auto V
#5 - PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS
#4 - Assassin's Creed Odyssey
#3 - Total War: WARHAMMER II
#2 - MONSTER HUNTER: WORLD
#1 - Farming Simulator 19

Also Divinity is a really steady seller, only with 35% discount.

 

[LESS T_T]

A glimpse of client redesign.

Looks hectic and cluttered.

 

[Anthedon]

The current interface is usable, the new one will, without a doubt, be shit.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

The current interface is usable, the new one will, without a doubt, be shit.

The current interface is usable but could stand improvement. Considerable improvement, in fact.

My money is on the new interface ignoring all of the needed features and just going with a generic mobile interface.

 

[Sentinel]

holy tile cancer batman
I hope they add an option to stay on the old UI 'cause that one at least looks usable on a PC.

 

[LESS T_T]

Responding to the AAA exodus?: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamworks#announcements/detail/1697191267930157838

New Revenue Share Tiers and other updates to the Steam Distribution Agreement

Today, we updated the Steam Distribution Agreement with several important changes. Actual Authority members can review all the terms and details with their next login in to Steamworks but we wanted to highlight a few of the changes\additions in this note.

The value of a large network like Steam has many benefits that are contributed to and shared by all the participants. Finding the right balance to reflect those contributions is a tricky but important factor in a well-functioning network. It’s always been apparent that successful games and their large audiences have a material impact on those network effects so making sure Steam recognizes and continues to be an attractive platform for those games is an important goal for all participants in the network.

With that in mind, we’ve created new revenue share tiers for games that hit certain revenue levels. Starting from October 1, 2018 (i.e. revenues prior to that date are not included), when a game makes over $10 million on Steam, the revenue share for that application will adjust to 75%/25% on earnings beyond $10M. At $50 million, the revenue share will adjust to 80%/20% on earnings beyond $50M. Revenue includes game packages, DLC, in-game sales, and Community Marketplace game fees. Our hope is this change will reward the positive network effects generated by developers of big games, further aligning their interests with Steam and the community.

We’ve also made a change to the agreement regarding confidentiality of your sales data. We frequently get questions from partners who want to talk with other developers\third parties or publicly about the sales of their games on Steam. We've heard you, and we're updating the confidentiality provisions to make it clear that the partner can share sales data about their game as they see fit.

Other less exciting changes include:

- Language to address how customer data is treated under the 2018 European data rules (GDPR) This doesn't change the fundamental agreement between Steam and game makers about customer data - Valve still keeps the data it collects from customers, and partners still keep the data customers give them. But this language helps clarify how that relationship maps to the terms of GDPR.

- Safety warranties prompted by VR. We have added some basic safety warranties about games – that they won't cause physical harm, and they won't override Steam safety features like Chaperone.

We’re spending a bunch of time and energy adding some new developer tools and features for self-marketing\promotion, improved navigation data, as well as more insight into metrics on impressions and activity for your games on Steam. We’re also continuing the effort to improve and expand access to markets all over the world with new currencies, server\bandwidth infrastructure and payment methods. More to come on that in the future.

The Steam Team

 

[Jenkem]

holy tile cancer batman
I hope they add an option to stay on the old UI 'cause that one at least looks usable on a PC.

I highly doubt that it will be the redesign, it's two years old at this point and Valve is constantly iterating on things, often to the detriment that they never actually release anything (see HL3)

 

[Latelistener]

Responding to the AAA exodus?

Better late than never I guess.

 

[GrainWetski]

holy tile cancer batman
I hope they add an option to stay on the old UI 'cause that one at least looks usable on a PC.

Might be too optimistic, but I can't imagine the UI would look anything like that. They already have a separate UI for cuntpads and the mobile app is nothing like the PC one, so they're obviously not like the lazy retards that make their websites designed for phones on every platform.

 

[Baron Dupek]

still cheaper than Potatoes
who have easterneuropean income
thx eu

 

[Infinitron]

Responding to the AAA exodus?: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamworks#announcements/detail/1697191267930157838

With that in mind, we’ve created new revenue share tiers for games that hit certain revenue levels. Starting from October 1, 2018 (i.e. revenues prior to that date are not included), when a game makes over $10 million on Steam, the revenue share for that application will adjust to 75%/25% on earnings beyond $10M. At $50 million, the revenue share will adjust to 80%/20% on earnings beyond $50M. Revenue includes game packages, DLC, in-game sales, and Community Marketplace game fees. Our hope is this change will reward the positive network effects generated by developers of big games, further aligning their interests with Steam and the community.

This is clever - it actually incentivizes publishers not to sell their games on other stores. Any sale not on Steam doesn't contribute towards reaching the $10 million and $50 million milestones.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

still cheaper than Potatoes
who have easterneuropean income
thx eu

muslims absolutely btfo

 

[LESS T_T]

When you thought it's just a meme, farming games are serious business.

#10 - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Game of the Year Edition
#9 - Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Full Edition
#8 - Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition
#6 - Grand Theft Auto V
#5 - PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS
#4 - Assassin's Creed Odyssey
#3 - Total War: WARHAMMER II
#2 - MONSTER HUNTER: WORLD
#1 - Farming Simulator 19

Also Divinity is a really steady seller, only with 35% discount.

Last week's top sellers are a balanced mix of Autumn Sale sellers and new games:

#10 - Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition
#9 - Assassin's Creed Odyssey
#8 - Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Full Edition
#7 - Grand Theft Auto V
#6 - Euro Truck Simulator 2 - Beyond the Baltic Sea
#5 - MONSTER HUNTER: WORLD
#4 - Farming Simulator 19
#3 - X4: Foundations
#2 - PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS
#1 - Artifact