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Starsand Island Dev Denies Role in Suspected Bot Reviews, Working With Valve to Remove Fakes

The Early Access life sim remains largely well reviewed despite documented patterns consistent with coordinated postings.

Overview

  • Seed Sparkle Lab reiterated it is not behind a burst of unusually positive Steam reviews and asked whoever is responsible to stop.
  • Developers say they are working with Valve to flag and remove forged reviews, noting this applies to both positive and negative entries.
  • Reporters and community checks found recurring account patterns—3–5 hours played, identical recent games, low Steam levels, and single review histories—consistent with bot activity.
  • As of two days after launch, Steam listed about 2,151 user reviews at roughly 88% positive, with many suspected reviews still visible and new suspicious posts reportedly slowing.
  • Following player concerns, the studio removed restrictive user-agreement language, affirmed there is no anti-cheat or mod limits, and plans to open Steam Workshop after full release.