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

[EN|DE] MS A/B Tests Windows 11 - 2026

29 January - ペンギン | 2 Comments

When launching various games, an additional Microsoft service has been activated in the background for some time now.

In this process, data is automatically transmitted to a Microsoft endpoint via GameBar.exe. The file is an executable file for Microsoft's Xbox Game Bar in Windows 11. It provides an overlay for games and applications and enables screen recording, performance monitoring, audio,- and communication functions.

The file can be found here: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay_7.325.11061.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

Structure consisting of folder path, version number, ID

The collected data in this context has been anonymized for the present example using placeholders in the form of (x).

Among other things, the following information is send:

Environment=Production
DeviceFamily=Windows.Desktop
DeviceFamilyVersion=<x>
Market=US
Language=en-US
IsDMARegion=true/false
AppVersion=<x>
DeviceId=<hex>
PublisherDeviceId=<hex>
Host=fern.xboxservices.com <-- New, can be blocked via hosts
Header: MS-CV=<Correlation Vector>
Header: Accept-Encoding=gzip, deflate
Header: Connection=Keep-Alive
activeFlights=<x>
treatments=<x>
impressionGuid=<x>
version=<x>
assignmentContext=<x>
clientId=<x>
customAudienceGroupIds=<x>
flightRingId=<x>
groupIds=<x>

In addition to the identifiers mentioned above, the IP address and timestamp of each request are also transmitted. The transmitted parameters enable assignment to specific applications or products and, in the event of repeated use, can enable recurring recognition and analysis of user and/or system behavior.

Meaning

The data transmission takes place as "Experimentation / A/B Testing".

Users are not provided with any relevant information about this processing activity. Furthermore, there is neither a requirement in connection with the performance of the contract nor any discernible added value for the user.

This behavior is also active if users have disabled all services in their system's "Gaming" settings. Against this background, the processing does not comply with the principles of transparency, purpose limitation and data minimization and therefore violates Articles 5 and 6 of the GDPR.

The current behavior replaces a former, functionally comparable service that was accessed via the address xboxab.com/ab/ and fulfilled a similar telemetry or experimentation function.

A corresponding example of the former service can be viewed at the following reference links:
https://testx-steam.c5game.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3412191209
Website with further details:
- Windows GameBar spies[gameindustry.eu]
- Windows GameBar spies, again[gameindustry.eu]

DE

Beim Start verschiedener Spielen unter Windows 11 wird seit einiger Zeit im Hintergrund ein zusätzlicher Microsoft-Dienst aktiviert.

Dabei werden Daten automatisch über GameBar.exe an einen Microsoft-Endpunkt übertragen. Bei der Datei handelt es sich um eine ausführbare Datei für die Xbox Game Bar von Microsoft in Windows 11. Sie stellt ein Overlay für Spiele und Anwendungen bereit und ermöglicht Bildschirmaufzeichnungen, Leistungsüberwachung sowie Audio,- und Kommunikationsfunktionen.

Die Datei befindet sich hier: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay_7.325.11061.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

Struktur bestehend aus Ordnerpfad, Versionsnummer, ID

Die in diesem Zusammenhang gesammelten Daten wurden für das vorliegende Beispiel mithilfe von Platzhaltern in Form von (x) anonymisiert.

Unter anderem werden folgende Informationen gesendet:

Environment=Production
DeviceFamily=Windows.Desktop
DeviceFamilyVersion=<x>
Market=US
Language=en-US
IsDMARegion=true/false
AppVersion=<x>
DeviceId=<hex>
PublisherDeviceId=<hex>
Host=fern.xboxservices.com <-- Neu, kann über Hosts blockiert werden
Header: MS-CV=<Correlation Vector>
Header: Accept-Encoding=gzip, deflate
Header: Connection=Keep-Alive
activeFlights=<x>
treatments=<x>
impressionGuid=<x>
version=<x>
assignmentContext=<x>
clientId=<x>
customAudienceGroupIds=<x>
flightRingId=<x>
groupIds=<x>

Zusätzlich zu den oben genannten Identifikatoren werden auch die IP-Adresse und der Zeitstempel jeder Anfrage übertragen. Die übertragenen Parameter ermöglichen die Zuordnung zu bestimmten Anwendungen oder Produkten und können bei wiederholter Nutzung eine wiederkehrende Erkennung und Analyse des Nutzer,- und/oder Systemverhaltens ermöglichen.

Bedeutung

Die Datenübermittlung erfolgt als "Experimentation / A/B-Testing".

Eine entsprechende Information an die Anwender über diese Verarbeitungstätigkeit findet nicht statt, zudem besteht weder eine Erfordernis im Zusammenhang mit der Vertragserfüllung noch ist ein erkennbarer Mehrwert für den Nutzer existent.

Das Verhalten ist auch aktiv, wenn Anwender in ihren "Gaming-Einstellungen" des Systems sämtliche Dienste deaktiviert haben. Vor dem Hintergrund steht die Verarbeitung nicht im Einklang mit den Grundsätzen der Transparenz, Zweckbindung und Datenminimierung und verstößt somit gegen Art. 5 und Art. 6 DSGVO.

Das aktuelle Verhalten ersetzt dabei einen früheren, funktional vergleichbaren Dienst, der über die Adresse xboxab.com/ab/ angesprochen wurde und eine gleichartige Telemetrie- oder Experimentationsfunktion erfüllte.

Einen entsprechendes Beispiel des früheren Dienstes ist unter folgenden Referenzlinks einsehbar:
https://testx-steam.c5game.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3412191209
Webseite mit weiteren Details:
- Windows GameBar spioniert[gameindustry.eu]
- Windows GameBar spioniert erneut [gameindustry.eu]

4 December, 2025 - ペンギン | 1 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.

--

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.

--

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.

--

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.

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STEAM CURATOR

Penguin Domination 🐧 reviews

"Analyze software behavior, data handling, telemetry, cloud dependencies, network requirements, offline functionality. Technical assessments, not gameplay reviews."

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ペンギン

26 Mar @ 7:15am

In that case you would have to decode a lot. Data sample: https://testx-steam.c5game.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3692554375

It would not be surprising if more was to come in that regard. Right now the whole world is in deep trouble because of the tech elite and the Trump system. If it happens, we will be forced to deal with it either way, and with the government agenda we can scream spyware all we want, they just laugh about it.

White ⁧⁧Wolf 26 Mar @ 3:15am

Also, I wonder if there's a way to see what 'files' a program is looking at... maybe something like process explorer/monitor? I personally lack the experience with that but maybe you've used it before.

White ⁧⁧Wolf 26 Mar @ 3:10am

Three dozen log files with over 10,000 lines, from Duel Links alone? Wow, didn't expect that. I'm just really curious if anything has changed and how bad the situation is right now.

As for the definition of spyware, there seem to be several - even in just one search result, so I don't blame them. I would imagine most online games at this point could be considered spyware when you consider the following definitions(directly from search engine result):
1) Software that secretly gathers information about a person or organization.

2) Any malicious software that is designed to take partial or full control of a computer's operation without the knowledge of its user.

3) Programs that surreptitiously monitor and report the actions of a computer user.

4) Computer software that obtains information from a user's computer without the user's knowledge or consent.

White ⁧⁧Wolf 26 Mar @ 3:10am

I can't find it either, nor on the official news page, though they only seem to list the main updates/additions(same on Steam hub). It could very well be legit but just not well documented - only available in-game and for a limited time. I never actually really checked them while playing.

Not sure about the 'source review' but I do see this one:
https://testx-steam.c5game.com/profiles/76561198254888195/recommended/601510
Someone with 750 hours on their account that was worried enough by it to stop playing. Other than that I can't find any analysis or anything.

If you'd be up for it, another favourite of mine and many others that also recently spoke of adding some sort of 'anti-cheat' that you may be interested in looking into is Old School RuneScape. That'd very likely be much simpler to analyse.
https://testx-steam.c5game.com/steamstore/app/1343370/Old_School_RuneScape/

ペンギン

25 Mar @ 8:56am

Addition:

The screenshot linked on Imgur: https://imgur.com/Ea1K8fk

shows February 17, 2026. I couldn't find this entry in the in-game news Notifications, Maintenance and Issues). Either they deleted the entry, or it never existed in the first place. Would say its a fake

Check the spacing of the date display in the graphic and in the game.

ペンギン

25 Mar @ 8:37am

Hmm, just finished my first duels against NPCs and claimed my rewards. Now I have to download a 7 GB update. Of course, that counts as playtime.If there's anything else to add regarding age, it will come up after that.

Unfortunately, the Imgur graphic doesn't mention these "certain countries" either. I also didn't see any settings that would let users select a new region themselves if for example, they made a mistake.

As for the mentioned "article" in the forum, if there's no evidence i would ignore it. Steam forums aren't a reliable source for facts. Which "review" is being cited as the source? A lot of people are crying "spyware" but they apparently don't even know what that term actually means.

Review:
I won't make any promises since it's a lot.

Currently have about three dozen log files (would be even more), with over 10,000 lines in the current analysis. Summarizing with relevant data and additional info isn't easy, especially with Steam's character limit.

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