"Hard Shark Games" - "new" problematic asset-flipper joins steams

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Shattered mind 4 Mar @ 7:35am

"Hard Shark Games" - "new" problematic asset-flipper joins steams

Summary

https://steamhost.cn/developer/Hard-Shark-Games

good thing:
-they have an actual dev-page so you can bulk ignore their titles.

bad things:
-everything else.

- 33 titles released in March alone(53 in total per 05/03/25), all asset flips or unity demo projects.

- all marked as Early access titles.(95% they won't be developed further and much less finished) this is obviously done so Hard Shark Games can avoid responsibility for the "quality".

- some are straight up stolen from itch.io or other places.
he temporarily removed all the media on most of the titles to avoid being called out for theft and changed dev/pub name to "TBD". all those titles are now back up under the Hard Shark Games moniker, with some if not all of them now "magically" with completely new art/screenshots - however I, together with Mellow_online1, verified that at least for the stolen itch.io titles, the content of the packages are still the old stolen games and the screenshots are fake!(I wouldn't be surprised if it's the same case for the rest)

- forum censor ship, the forums are a desolate wasteland because he removes any and all criticism, banning the users in the process.

- AI-slob.

- stolen art.

- all games have FAKE review quotes, when you click on any of the links they just go to a non-existent twitch-page (same link for all of them) - (he has now removed these after getting called out, but I'm keeping the info here as it speaks volumes about this "dev")

but also fake steam reviews for few of the titles(probably just a matter of time, before they all have them.)

- multiple fake awards (he has now removed these after getting called out, but I'm keeping the info here as it speaks volumes about this "dev")

- fake screenshots(for stolen games, again trying to hide that he's a thief)

- has issued death/rape-threats to negative reviewers.

- SOS has already covered the developer in a previous article:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/groups/Sentinels_of_the_Store/announcements/detail/3066357851450511882

Hard Shark Games and Johnny Ginard

Hard Shark Games -
https://steamhost.cn/developer/Hard-Shark-Games
(shortly after this thread was made he changed the URL in an attempt to break previously published links)

after getting called out for their bs ,they now also have an alt account "TBD"
https://steamhost.cn/search/?developer=TBD
https://steamdb.info/app/3304710/history/?changeid=27825525
(this has now been abandoned, after he thought he had covered his tracks)

name change and connection with Johnny Ginard - https://steamdb.info/app/704950/history/?changeid=25138000

Johnny Ginard - the administrator of the official Hard Shark Games group.
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/groups/hardsharkgames
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/id/johnnyginard
(profile now private to avoid detection)

List of stolen games

he temporarily blanked out the store pages for these games in an effort to stay undetected.

https://steamhost.cn/app/3304710/Potion_Shopkeeper_Simulator/

SteamDB entry

https://steamdb.info/app/3304710/history/?changeid=U:58999345

non-scrubbed version via wayback machine

- https://web.archive.org/web/20241107004700/https://steamhost.cn/app/3304710/

Original game

https://github.com/sarahkwon/Potion-Shopkeeper/tree/master?tab=readme-ov-file
by Sarah Kwon, I've reached out to Sarah and she has confirmed she will be filing a DMCA with Valve.

*edit* the character art featured on "potion shopkeepers"'s about this game section, is stolen art from another steam developer: https://steamhost.cn/app/1819460/Mika_and_The_Witchs_Mountain/

https://steamhost.cn/app/3240020/Mansion_Mayhem_FPS_Assault/

SteamDB entry

https://steamdb.info/app/3240020/history/?changeid=U:58999141

non-scrubbed version via wayback machine

https://web.archive.org/web/20240921071603/https://steamhost.cn/app/3240020

Original game

https://booleet.itch.io/mansion-warrior

https://steamhost.cn/app/3236030/Axe_Slasher_Roguelike_Dungeon_Crawler/

SteamDB entry

https://steamdb.info/app/3236030/history/?changeid=U:58999000

non-scrubbed version via wayback machine

https://web.archive.org/web/20240923000452/https://steamhost.cn/app/3236030/

Original game

https://booleet.itch.io/dungeon-warrior

games by Maksim (booleet) Chmutov, I've tried reaching out to Maksim, but his online accounts seem to have been inactive for a couple of years, so haven't heard back from him.

these are confirmed stolen, it's possible the rest of the blanked out titles are too, but because he has removed the media, it will take some additional work to confirm this.

*edit* he has now changed the screenshots, but Mellow_online1 has confirmed that the contents of the packages are still the stolen games, so the current screenshots for these games are fake.

List of blanked out titles

*edit 22/04/25* this section now contains outdated info, since these games has now returned under the Hard Shark Games Moniker, with all new media.(it's unclear if the content of the packages matches the screenshots, as in above case it might just be a ruse. I'm keeping this section here for posterity and as a ressource to track the titles.*edit*

https://steamhost.cn/search/?developer=TBD
(note: Steam's lack of verification has made it possible for multiple devs/ publishers to have the same name. ignore the titles that have media present, those are by another dev/publisher)

note that he has also attempted multiple different name changes to obfuscate his connection to these titles(thank god for steamdb)

https://steamdb.info/app/3230200/history/
https://steamdb.info/app/3304710/history/
https://steamdb.info/app/3247170/history/
https://steamdb.info/app/3236030/history/
https://steamdb.info/app/3450470/history/
https://steamdb.info/app/3240020/history/
https://steamdb.info/app/3528870/history/
https://steamdb.info/app/3530900/history/
https://steamdb.info/app/3528400/history/
https://steamdb.info/app/3526100/history/
https://steamdb.info/app/3525530/history/
https://steamdb.info/app/3524770/history/

*edit*

if you want to see the pre-scrubbed versions via the wayback machine go here:

https://web.archive.org/web/20240920151018/https://steamhost.cn/app/3230200/Forgotten_Heroes_Roguelike_TurnBased_RPG/

and replace the text field at the top of the page with the correct app-id from the above list.

example :
" https://steamdb.info/app/3230200/history/ " -> "https://steamhost.cn/app/3230200/"

as it turns out it appears quite a few of them also had fake awards.

doesn't work with all the titles.

List of asset-flips

https://steamhost.cn/app/3525530/Corpse_City/?curator_clanid=4777282
https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/environments/urban/fps-city-level-103229
https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/characters/humanoids/free-shirtless-zombie-276762
because this guy is such a lazy bum, the store images are directly lifted from the asset store.

https://steamhost.cn/app/3524770/Ski_Jumping_Simulator/
https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/props/industrial/ski-lifts-113198
https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/animations/ski-jumping-animations-212673
again "screenshots" lifted directly from unity asset store.

https://steamhost.cn/app/3526100/Bullet_Dungeon/
https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/packs/dungeoncrawl-kit-218625
again ... likely that the store-page screenshots for this is fake as he already used this asset-pack for "retro dungeon slayer"... again he added black & white filter thinking it would hide where he got the assets from... OMG the original stuff he uploaded literally stole content from Enter The Gungeon (https://shared.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/3526100/ss_11a0c2a5fa4f1e6e5494fddb10ada7e95a9316b1.jpg ) what an absolute scumbag!

https://steamhost.cn/app/3528400/Silent_Mist/
https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/systems/advanced-horror-fps-kit-for-mobile-and-pc-first-person-shooter-h-236275?aid=1100lJ2z
LMAO he even uploaded a screenshot with the asset pack sample text...

https://steamhost.cn/app/3509060/Finger_Soccer/
https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/packs/finger-soccer-game-kit-soccer-stars-45611

https://steamhost.cn/app/3505680/Real_Estate_Tycoon/
https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/packs/real-estate-tycoon-city-sim-game-kit-46123
once again desaturated some colours and called it a day

Fake awards

*edit* this section now contains outdated info, as he has now removed all the fake awards. but I'm keeping the section for posterity and because it speaks volumes about mr. Ginard's character.

https://steamhost.cn/app/3274780/Bike_Park_Simulator_BMX_Dirt_Jump__MTB/?curator_clanid=45529379
claims to have won the "Indie summit Valencia: best game for PC" -award.

which is a lie, the game isn't mentioned among the attendees going as far back as 2018
https://www.valenciaindiesummit.com/halloffame.html

https://steamhost.cn/app/3210270/Streets_of_Rageness_Beat_Em_Up_Fighter/ claims to have won "guerilla game awards- public's choice" even though that festivals official site doesn't mention them anywhere going as far back as the 2022 festival: https://guerrillagamefestival.es/expo-indie/

https://steamhost.cn/app/704950/Scarletts_Dungeon_Retro_Action_RPG_Roguelite/?curator_clanid=45529379
"Scarlett's dungeon" claims to have won indie cade 2017 - websites does not mention it for the 2017 awards anywhere: https://www.indiecade.com/past-award-winners/

https://steamhost.cn/app/990410/Slashvival_Action_RPG_Roguelite/
claims to have won "the tokyo game show 2019 - indie game official selection"
they are neither listed as exhibitor https://expo.nikkeibp.co.jp/tgs/2019/en/exhibitors/list_en.html

nor winners of anything: https://awards.cesa.or.jp/2019/en/prize/amateur.html

a bunch of other games claims to have won prizes that I'm not even sure exists and I can't be bothered looking it up, but given the track record I think it's safe to assume it's bullshit

Review manipulation

probably the most pathetic ♥♥♥♥ I've seen ever since Atomic Fabrik got booted off the store!

all in all - expect the usual ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ we see from these kinds of "developers".
please go and report all their games so, Valve can boot them off the store before they get too much junk on here.(already kinda of too late...thx Valve!)

I'm in the process of cataloguing the rest of the asset-packs, if you do recognise any of them please add them to this thread.

Post Scriptum

I think this is worthy of another SOS announcement btw.

Last edited by Shattered mind; 27 Apr @ 12:21pm

A moderator of this forum has marked a post as the answer to the topic above.
Click here to jump to that post.

Originally posted by Mellow_Online1:

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/groups/Sentinels_of_the_Store/announcements/detail/813567935677204766

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Showing 1-15 of 46 comments

Shattered mind 4 Mar @ 11:07am

apparently SOS already an article on some of this shit that I pointed out:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/groups/Sentinels_of_the_Store/announcements/detail/3066357851450511882

it's unclear if Hard Shark Games is johnny Ginard under a new name or if they simple bought up his old asset-shits, steam DB entries for those games does show dev name changing from Johnny Ginard to Hard Shark Games however.

*edit* Johnny Ginard is the administrator of the official Hard Shark Games - group, so I guess that answers that question.

Last edited by Shattered mind; 4 Mar @ 4:47pm

Shattered mind 4 Mar @ 12:03pm

bike simulator like other titles claims to have won the Valencia indie summit award for PC game, which is a lie, the game isn't mentioned among the attendees going as far back as 2018.

Last edited by Shattered mind; 4 Mar @ 12:03pm

Shattered mind 4 Mar @ 12:10pm

also reading some of their Early access bullshit lies, it's obvious it's a scam and a way for them to avoid responsibility - multiple of them mentions 1+ year early access and future development being dependent on success/sales and the future road maps they have are clearly castle in the skies fantasies and far beyond this dev's actual abilities, especially considering that basically none of the stuff currently released is actually made by this dev and are all asset-flips or stolen games.

ps. rather than taking an actual stance, Valve has instead simply added a warning to EA titles saying "oh btw maybe this game will never be finished *shrug*" . anyone with actual sense and who cared for their customers would not allow a single dev to put 30+ early access titles on the store at the same time - it's so fucking obvious what's going on....but then again , Valve doesn't care

Last edited by Shattered mind; 7 Mar @ 5:58pm

Shattered mind 7 Mar @ 6:10am

He is now deleting forum posts calling him out and he also tried to to rename the url for hard shark games(which I have of course updated).

Last edited by Shattered mind; 7 Mar @ 5:58pm

Shattered mind 7 Mar @ 6:12am

of course this is the kind of bs this guy would try and pull, currently blanked out the store pages for the games that he straight stole from other developers and changed dev/publisher name to TBD, he has also changed the names of most games to odd code-names, I guess he thought it would break URLS for this thread, sadly for him it doesn't work like that:

https://steamhost.cn/app/3304710/PIWS/
https://steamhost.cn/app/3240020/Masses/
https://steamhost.cn/app/3236030/FORS/
https://steamhost.cn/app/3230200/Forgotten_Heroes_Roguelike_TurnBased_RPG/

ffs this is Atomic Fabrik all over again.
.... please go report his dev page and all the games

*edit* he has now done this for most of the games...thinking he can hide.
https://steamhost.cn/search/?developer=TBD

Last edited by Shattered mind; 8 Mar @ 2:47am

Shattered mind 9 Mar @ 12:06pm

edited formatting for readability and added additional info and sources.

Last edited by Shattered mind; 9 Mar @ 12:07pm

Obey the Fist! 9 Mar @ 3:52pm

I've been a bit busy lately so I just saw this... wow, amazing. A lot of hard work and good research here, I'll make sure to update whatever reviews I can for these asset flips to help warn gamers.

The developer making death threats is a real problem here and it's incredible that Valve have taken no action against this guy. Say what you like about Hede and Atomic Fabrik but they know to generally keep their mouths shut. Threatening people, or getting into litigation like Digital Homicide did is never okay.

Shattered mind 9 Mar @ 5:26pm

those threats were made a while back, it's possible they did serve him a timed community ban, maybe Mellow can confirm if Valve ever took any action... however I think it's worth noting, considering not only did they let him keep his profile - but they are currently doing business with this person!

WHY!!? I did put this question to Valve in a support ticket I had to deal with because this clown banned me from all his forums, resulting in a community ban.

support seemed more concerned with defending his right to blanket ban anyone in the forums, rather than actually responding to all the evidence I was providing them

instead telling me to use the report option(which I couldn't because of the ban

) ... while also ignoring, that I pointed out the fact that the report-option doesn't seem to do anything - e.g. it took years, reporting every single title, close to 300 asset-flips, 70+ different aliases , 500+ obvious fake reviews, before Valve "got rid off" Atomic Fabrik(they didn't even get rid off all of it as we all know

)

Obey the Fist! 12 Mar @ 5:03am

It's a major cause for concern and it's troubling that Valve is turning a blind eye to a "developer" blatantly abusing both Steam community management features as well as breaking the rules on fake reviews and all the other toxicity these bad actors engage in to pollute Steam for a few roubles in pocket change.

This kind of stuff isn't harmless at all... gamers have to be warned about this crap that shouldn't even be on the store, and indie devs have to compete with it to get an audience for their games. And it gives indie devs such a bad name.

Occular Malice

12 Mar @ 6:18am

Nice work! I've gone through most of the forums and left my "Asset flip, do not buy" message. It'll either raise awareness or get deleted and earn me a ban. Of course everything is archived (thanks Wayback machine!). I've also reported all of the games as asset flips. Thanks for tracking these down!

#10

Neo Kabuto 17 Mar @ 7:35am

My posts to their discussion boards were deleted yesterday and I got enough bans from to be fully locked out of every Steam community until now. Support first told me that you should be aware that you can be banned for breaking unlisted rules and that's just how it is, second guy lifted the global ban and was more sympathetic, but it's clear they aren't able to do anything.

Reached out to the sites they were claiming fake reviews from, maybe they'll do something Steam has to listen to (one of them seemed to have an actual legal team, so hopefully they're compelled to defend their trademark).

#11

Obey the Fist! 17 Mar @ 9:25am

It's unfortunate that Valve allows developers to self-moderate their discussions, because this is almost always abused.

Getting a community ban, even if it's from trying to help and warn gamers about shady developers, just isn't worth it.

Unfortunately Valve drag their feet on doing anything about shady developers unless it's something so serious that it's newsworthy, and asset flip scams usually aren't unless the developer goes all Digital Homicide.

Does anyone know where Hard Shark are pushing their games? Usually asset flippers push their asset flips into game bundles, preferably random key ones through sites like G2A. It helps to follow the money.

#12

Occular Malice

17 Mar @ 2:58pm

Same here. I posted threads on a half dozen of his asset flips and (when he got around to reading them) deleted the messages and banned me from the community. After 5 of these bans I got a global community ban for 24 hours that prevented me from posting anything, anywhere. I sent in a support ticket to Steam along with a) the name of the game and link b) link to the asset in the Unity store showing the identical screenshots/videos and c) the ban message (which never had a reason for the ban). Would be nice if Steam required someone to provide a reason for the ban to see what these people are saying. In any case I can post again and will continue to call out dirty devs like this.

#13

Neo Kabuto 17 Mar @ 4:39pm

Both Gaming Nexus and Pixel Bandits got back to me, they reached out to Steam. Unfortunately, it looks like it only got the review sections taken down (maybe for all of their games except Scarlett's Dungeon, which might have "legit" reviews?). Still, it's a minor win.

Last edited by Neo Kabuto; 17 Mar @ 4:41pm

#14