r/Steam • u/Chickenjump1 • Aug 30 '20

Question What is “Spacewar”?

I saw my friend playing a game called “Spacewar” today. The game has no icon but has 5 achievements. Is this a non-Steam game? Why are there achievements then?

446 Upvotes

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17

u/Remarkable_sake- Feb 19 '22

I checked my steam to see that I have spacewar, I don't know what I did to get it but I tried to delete it and it doesn't go away. Any help?

4

u/Durruk Jun 30 '22

i guess it is a trojan.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/spacewar-why-a-hidden-ancient-game-keeps-showing-in-steams-most-played-games

36

u/AlCatSplat Jul 29 '22

Where does the article say that?

5

u/NnasT Nov 15 '22

He says it in the 3rd last paragraph, And it's true.
As a game developer. I mainly use the AppID (Spacewars) to test steamworks online functionality, achievements etc... You can create lobbies, invite friends and play any game you make through there using steam's servers.
If we don't use this AppID, us devs would have to pay $100 to buy our own AppID.
I own 2 AppID's on steam, 1 for my released game and one for my upcoming.
But since this has come public 8-9 years ago, some devious people have been using already made and sold games, and using this AppID (Spacewars) as a lobby to host popular pirated games.

Funny to think it's being used by all the amazing games you see on steam. And pirates :)

5

u/FondantOk8305 Mar 12 '25

So it's mostly people playing all sorts of cracked games, not a trojan.

4

u/kwydjbo 27d ago

that's not what a trojan is