Valve and Nintendo have been caught in the crossfire as users railing against Twitter's new verification rules use blue ticks to confuse fans.
"We’re excited to unveil Ricochet: Neon Prime, our next competitive platform, this Thursday at 10am Pacific Time," Valve said on Twitter. "Can’t wait to see you all on the grid!" With the blue checkmark next to the name you'd be forgiven for thinking this was actually Valve's twitter account, but the misspelling of 'sotfware' in the name might give it away.
In the past, Twitter accounts like Valve's have been distinguished by fakes and parodies by a blue checkmark next to the name. Now, as one of the many changes coming to the platform since it was purchased by Elon Musk, anyone can get a blue checkmark by paying $8 per month for the Twitter Blue subscription. In theory, actual official accounts will be noted by an additional "official" badge, but that hasn't actually rolled out to the platform yet.
Which means that, for now, anybody can spend $8 to spread misinformation while looking more like an official source. For its part, @valvesotfware is using its viral notoriety to protest Twitter Blue. "Misinformation is so easy to spread and the damage it can cause can have a real impact on people, much more of an impact than a fake game announcement," the account says.
"You now own a massive platform and this is what you choose to do with it, do better," the message concludes, tagging Elon Musk's account.
It remains to be seen how many of these fake accounts will remain live, but for now, you can enjoy the memes.
Valve does actually have multiple games in development, but it remains to be seen if a reboot of its largely-forgotten 2000 PVP title is among them.
