Paranautical Activity dev says it was blocked from Steam due to former Greenlight page

Code Avarice, the developer behind Paranautical Activity, claims it was denied publishing on Steam due to previous attempts to pass through Steam Greenlight.

According to the developer, the problem sparked after accepting a deal with Adult Swim that would get Paranautical Activity onto Steam. Code Avarice had previously attempted to Greenlight its game; the campaign was launched in August of last year. In the video interview above, co-developer Mike Maulbeck said that as a result Valve denied the game entry.

"[Valve's] response was basically, ‘We don't want to send the message that indies can use publishers, or indies should seek out publishers to get around the Greenlight system,'" Maulbeck said. "Now we're just dead in the water. We've got a Greenlight campaign that we haven't even touched in months. We have to resurrect it from the ashes."

Maulbeck said that he and his fellow developer put the game on Greenlight initially because they "assumed that we would need to go through Greenlight."

Speaking with Gamasutra, Valve's Doug Lombardi said the company reviews votes, reviews and more as part of the Greenlight process.

"However our message to indies regarding publishers is do it for your own reasons, but do not split your royalties with a publisher expecting an automatic 'Yes' on Greenlight," Lombardi said.

Code Avarice is once again campaigning through Greenlight. Paranautical Activity combines "the classic FPS elements of games like Doom and Quake" with roguelike elements seen in games such as The Binding of Isaac and Spelunky.