On July 3, 2025, YouTuber and streamer Pirate Software, also known as Thor, officially announced that he would be stepping away from Offbrand Games following the controversy surrounding the Stop Killing Games movement. The YouTuber noted that his opinion on the initiative has led players to review-bomb the company’s new releases. To avoid further harm to their reputation, he’s terminated the partnership indefinitely.
“I am no longer working at Offbrand Games,” he wrote. “People were attacking all of the games we were publishing and trying to mass review bomb them. You can dislike the things I say but this kind of behavior is unhinged.”
I am no longer working at @offbrand_games. People were attacking all of the games we were publishing and trying to mass review bomb them. You can dislike the things I say but this kind of behavior is unhinged.
Learned a lot there, accomplished a lot, hope they succeed…
— Pirate Software (@PirateSoftware) July 3, 2025
For context, Stop Killing Games is an initiative that prohibits game companies from abruptly and maliciously shutting down games even after they cross their End-of-Life stage. While most people support the movement, Pirate Software took a vocal disliking to it, causing immense backlash that ultimately led to the separation.
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Still, Thor has doubled down on his thoughts towards the initiative, claiming that the abuse across socials can be detrimental to indie studios, but not enough to retract his opinions.
For those trying to say this is now somehow a lie.
The abuse was across socials, people on discord, twitter, reddit, and some reviews on steam. Indie Games are fragile things and attacks like that hit hard. Overall sentiment was to bash the games and the developers working on…
— Pirate Software (@PirateSoftware) July 3, 2025
Since the announcement, other YouTubers and streamers have already responded to Thor’s recent statement on leaving the company. On one hand, personalities like Ludwig support him and call out bad actors, but still agree that Stop Killing Games is the right approach for consumer rights and game preservation.
stop killing games is a good initiative but a few bad actors review bombed/harassed developers of the games we support at @offbrand_games
appreciate thor stepping down for the betterment of the devs and their games
— ludwig (@LudwigAhgren) July 3, 2025
On the other hand, YouTubers like Mischief claimed none of Offbrand Games’ products were review-bombed, saying Pirate Software’s excuse for leaving the company was something beyond the potential impact to the Offbrand projects.
None of OffBrand Games’s titles are getting review bombed.
Ludwig and Pirate Software are both blatantly lying to seemingly further slander the “Stop Killing Games” movement.Incredibly weird and manipulative behaviour from the both of them here… pic.twitter.com/gKHnh0Ocx7
— Mischief (@MischiefsYT) July 3, 2025
Regardless of the reaction and drama to Thor’s statement, the public sentiment and momentum is clearly with Stop Killing Games and its supporters. This morning, the petition reached the necessary 1 million votes to receive discussion by the EU.
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Pirate Software joined Offbrand Games shortly before the launch of Rivals of Aether 2, a sequel to one of the most successful indie platform fighters in the genre’s history. Platform fighters have been heavily dominated by Super Smash Bros. (with Brawlhalla thriving in its own seperate ecosystem), but Rivals consistently received a place on the main stage at huge events like Genesis and Super Smash Con (now Supernova).
In the leadup to the launch, Pirate Software streamed with the devs multiple times and helped bring attention to the game. Now. RoA 2 is an actively supported title that sees regular participation from big names like Leffen, CakeAssault, and VoiD in tournaments. With Evo just around the corner, Rivals is set to be the biggest platformer at the tournament and could become the replacement that brings Smash players back to Vegas.
Pirate Software was not a dev on the team, nor actively involved in the ongoing support of the title, but it remains to be seen how his absence will impact RoA and future esports titles published by Offbrand Games.
