ABOUT Penguin Domination 🐧

Spyware in games? No thanks!

This group focuses on the technical examination of software behavior in games and related platforms. Evaluations include the use of telemetry, analytics services, cloud storage systems, always-online requirements, and third-party integrations. Particular attention is paid to how data is collected, stored, processed, transmitted and how this affects functionality in offline or restricted network environments.

The reviews refer to established transparency and data protection standards, including the GDPR. All findings are based on observable network activity, client-side behavior, documented infrastructure components and publicly available technical evidence.

Review Criteria and Corrections

No assessments are made regarding entertainment value, gameplay experience or personal preference. The focus is on verifiable technical characteristics and their practical implications for users and developers.

Developers may provide technical documentation or clarification. Verified corrections and transparent implementation details are incorporated into the database and review summaries.

What does the group provide?

Technical analyses of data collection, telemetry, cloud systems, and network dependencies in games and clients.
Documentation of third-party service integrations and data processing workflows.
Guides and reference materials for configuring privacy tools, network controls, and host-based filtering.
Discussion of transparency standards, data protection regulations, and industry practices.
Resources to support informed decisions regarding software behavior and data flows.

Key Resources / Repository

Project Website[www.gameindustry.eu]
Additional documentation, steam tools, guides, reviews, hosts lists, database and technical reference

GitHub Repository[github.com]
Hosts files mirror

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POPULAR DISCUSSIONS

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RECENT ANNOUNCEMENTS

2025 Project Overview, Statistics and hibernation

December 4 - ペンギン | 0 Comments

As the year slowly draws to a close and I was thinking about how to present you a summary of the current year and I came up with the idea of adding a statistics section[gameindustry.eu]to the project page.

There you now have the opportunity to quickly and clearly see what has happened or what has been added recently, both for the current year and retroactively.

First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone who has remained loyal to the group for a long time, as well as the members who joined us during the year and with whom i have exchanged ideas.

In 2025, a total of 275 people joined the group. 220 are still in the group today, while 78 have left. Of those, 23 of them were members of Penguin Domination only for a short time.

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As the GameIndustry has evolved over the years in line with changing requirements, some entries are still marked with an invalid (placeholder) date. A date field for new and edited product entries was only introduced in 2021. I will correct these dates retroactively where possible (currently around 600 entries). In addition, there are still around 900 descriptions missing for game and software publisher, both in German and English.

The statistics do not include things like technical changes to the project page, even though they require a lot of work and time. You can also follow many details via the recent changes[gameindustry.eu] section. Various RSS feeds[gameindustry.eu] are also available to help you stay up to date. The group also has its own RSS function for announcements

Recent technical changes include, for example, a revision of the entire basic page structure and design, many textual content and database queries, which among other things results in performance improvements.

There have also been many small "quality-of-life" updates such as navigation aids, overlays, improvements to the responsive layout (mobile view), the technology section, the Steam library export function, product genres, the recently added privacy badge and the new autocomplete feature in the search.

Some of these are still in a testing phase and much more is planned.

In addition, as already communicated via artworks and status updates/announcements, own software projects are being further developed step by step, such as the latest updates to Steam Cleaner and Hosts Manager. Those who are only here for the reviews will have to continue to deal just with a few entries per year.

Updates to the filter lists are now rarely necessary. On the one hand, most areas are already covered and on the other hand, analyses and updates of this kind are difficult to carry out without compromising convenience and usability.

Suggestions for improvements, feedback and donations[gameindustry.eu] are (unfortunately) still quite rare. However, community feedback and suggestions from the friends list (FL) or via email have already been implemented many times and I hope to be able to continue improving the project with your help.

As you may have read recently, one of the latest successes was the deactivation of unnecessary Google queries in the Steam client.

Here, too, I would like to thank the community members who notified me about strange client behavior and posted my analysis in the beta forum. This made it possible to improve the data sovereignty of millions of Steam users in one fell swoop within a very short time.

There were also negative setbacks, such as the inappropriate insults and lies from the developer DoubleMoose Games and the publisher Focus Entertainment, which is now called PulluP Entertainment. Unfortunately, jurisdiction is unnecessarily complicated.

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You can now access the statistics via the header menu on the project page.

Do you have any wishes for 2026 or suggestions for improvement for the group, reviews or content on the project page? Post them here.

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I will be taking my leave from you for this year, using the time for personal matters and further background work. With that in mind, I wish you all the best. Enjoy the upcoming Steam sale, the holidays, Christmas (for those who celebrate it), and have a wonderful New Year.