Vintage Story
Update: September 2, 2026: DO NOT BUY THE GAME.
There is malware in one of the mods which was implemented by a user named Maltiez who is also on the development team for Vintage Story. What was once one of my favorite games is now crashing and burning. For your safety, I highly recommend that you DO NOT install or play Vintage Story until Maltiez is fired, the devs grow a pair, the game becomes open source, or the game somehow gets forked. For more info, check out this thread:
Read here.RIP S AND F Vintage Story
Even the best things in life have to come to an end eventually. Nothing is ever immune.
If you bought the game like I have, you can still get a refund from what I heard. I'm giving the devs a few days from today to fire Maltiez and ban him from the modding forums or I'll be getting my refund by Monday.
Update: September 9, 2026: The Refund
I'm a little late to my deadline but the way the situation has been resolved was not to my standards. So it pains me to do it but I had no choice but to request a refund which you can see here.
And here's what I sent them because I couldn't post my request in whole on one image:
This is not an request I've wanted to make, but the recent events surrounding the malware and conflict of interest in the development team leaves me at a crossroad. Vintage Story was one of my favorite new games in recent memory. This is coming from someone who has been separated from mainstream gaming since the early 2010s. I won't give the whole rundown on the state of the gaming industry going back years ago. People like me support indie games to get away from all that. It's the one area in the industry that is offering innovation and quality to gaming culture as a whole. Vintage Story was one of those games. I've been an active player for years enjoying everything that Vintage Story had to offer. So much so, I went out of my way to encourage others to check out the game for themselves. I made some good friends on some online servers. In an unhealthy way, it was my escapism from a reality that almost feels like it's strangling me slowly. I was under the impression that this game was developed under a righteous and honest development.
To my dismay, that didn't turn out to be the case after what I heard in regards to the ConfigLib malware situation. Though it was claimed that the code was only targeting cheating software running on servers, that was not the consensus I heard from those who had crashes occurring on their end with little to no explanations or conclusions. I find it absolutely abhorrent that this situation was not handled with respect to those who were legitimately concerned. Personally, I was not involved in the drama over on the Discord or the Forums, but I feel like a lot of those who were arguing in good faith in regards to the unethical exploitation of the user's trust only to silence them in said servers and forums is not the sort of behavior I'd expect from a development team that claims to be morally just. To quote the main page of Vintage Story:
"Held to high standard, Fair and Independent, No marketplace. No loot boxes. No microtransactions. No Season pass. No paid DLC. No hidden fees. No pay2win. No ads. No user data monetization. No software patents. No shareholders. No publisher. No NFTs. No BlockChain. No 3rd party interests. No Games-as-a-Service. No empty promises."
While these claims are true, the fact of the matter is that those high standards were not held up during this recent incident. Granted, this didn't occur within the code or builds of Vintage Story itself but rather within the repositories of the modding forums which are typically outside of the control of the the development team. It if were just an incident with a malicious mod developer that has gone rouge, that would had been the end of it after it's been addressed and settled and I wouldn't be typing request.
The problem lies within the fact that this mod developer so happens to be a part of the Vintage Story development team. While it's good that Maltiez is no longer involved in the modding forums and the malware within the code has been addressed and taken care of, just knowing that Maltiez is still on the development team after all that is not inspiring any sort of confidence in most of the player base including myself. Keeping Maltiez on the development team while keeping a "close eye" on the code doesn't inspire confidence after everything that happened. This malicious code within this mod has been known for several months up until this point and users have a right to transparency if something that can cause some issues with their game is being implemented. It would had been one thing if the ConfigLib modules was advertised to have an anti-cheat engine system built in but it was intentionally hidden for the sake of some petty grievances over cheaters (whom I've never come across from all my time playing Vintage Story online). That doesn't sound like someone who should be on a team that is supposed to be "Held to high standards".
I'm sure Maltiez is a fine programmer and developer. I can't speak for myself personally as my programming knowledge is limited and amateurish at best. There's probably a reason why having such a person on the team makes sense. Good programmers are hard to come by, but so are trustworthy developers who are true to their word that don't get into childish bickering and underhanded methods to get their way. If it were up to me, I would strive to have someone who is true to their word more so than someone who is talented. The alternative of that is the sort of behavior expected out of corporate businesses and profit driven projects which is the very thing most gamers are getting sick and tired of. A bad code or broken gameplay feature can be fixed easily within time, but a user's trust is fragile and that's not something you can mend back together after breaking that trust with your supporters.
It's a good thing that malware incident was nothing more than just a game breaking issue. But such issues can have dire consequences in the consumer space. The supporters of Vintage Story have every right to be skeptical and cautious with the way this situation was resolved. Consumer rights are constantly being exploited on a daily basis. There's so much malicious hardware and software out there attempting to nickle and dime the populace or outright exploit the privacy and well being of the consumer that anyone who isn't capable of just shutting their brain off and going with the flow with the way things seem to be are more anxious than they've ever been in their lifetimes. I certainly feel that way which is the reason why I no longer feel comfortable in having my money in this game anymore. What occurred without the user's consent and what I feel is an unsatisfactory solution of addressing this situation completely removes any support I have for this game because it conflicts with the very principles of my moral standards. As such, I'm requesting a refund for the game that I bought years ago because I have regret my purchase after what has occurred.
A refund would be the last act of good faith for the development team. I would be grateful if such a transaction could be arranged. If such actions could not proceed forward, then it is what it is. In any case, I no longer have the game on my desktop. I feel morally obligated to not have such a game on my PC. Honestly more so to my own determent than to the developers. I loved Vintage Story, and I love the community behind the game, the lore, the music, the art, the mature gameplay. But I have to let go because I cannot allow immoral behavior to take place under my watch. Accountability must be held. The world is the way it is because we allow ourselves to let this abhorrent transaction to go unresolved. I refuse to be part of that negligence and inactive on my end.
It is long but I wanted them to hear me out. I'll update this page and post what they respond with afterwards. If you own the game, I suggest doing the same too.
The old outdated review
It's kind of based off Minecraft (an old mod called Vintage Craft) but it has a lot more depth than vanilla Minecraft and its more recent updates. Vintage Story has a focus on survival and realism that is completely absent in the newer updates of Minecraft. You start off from the stone-age, creating simple stone tools, hunting and gathering, making simple baskets and fire-pits, and work your way up technologically by acquiring metals and materials to help you survive throughout the seasons (with winter being the most harsh season to survive).
The game has a similar aesthetic to vanilla Minecraft but with a nice theme and some extra effects to really separate itself from similar games. There isn't a lot of mob varieties compared to Minecraft but this is rather refreshing as many of the game you hunt can attack you if you attack them and some will attack you on sight. The crafting system itself is also very in-depth. Most stuff you create such as flint tools, metal tools, clay pots, etc all have their own little mechanics such as putting together pottery bit by bit, or forging your tools with ingots and anvils. Despite the very hardcore nature of the game, it can be a very relaxing and comfy game once you have some food stockpiled and preserved, a decent shelter, and a reliable food source.
The game is still in early access and is getting updates regularly so there is always new content on the horizon. I'd say it's one of the best games I have played of 2020, though I haven't played a lot of new games over the course of the year so take that with a grain of salt. I still really enjoy playing this game and still have a lot to do in my singleplayer world. Multiplayer is also really good too. It has a server list which makes it easy to jump into a server, something that isn't even available in vanilla Minecraft. And all for about $20. It's quite a lot of value for your money. If you aren't pleased with the gameplay additions that Minecraft has been putting out lately, or if you are seeking an alternative voxel game to add to your library of games, I would highly recommend Vintage Story. It's a really great game.
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