After the onset of outrage by gamers, many PC games have swiftly taken action to remove the notorious Red Shell tracking software from their offerings. The trend picked up when fans noticed that Bethesda had included the software in Elder Scrolls Online. Bethesda was quick to issue a public apology, and game producer Matt Firor said in a statement, “we were experimenting with a better way to link which advertisements and web content new players see on the eventual account that is created in the game.”

Firor was clear that they included the software purely for advertisement purposes, but researchers from PCGamesN reported that Red Shell reveals more than just what kind of marketing campaigns to pursue. The software deliberately harvests information and collects it anonymously, this includes user OS, browser user agent, IP address, game user ID, screen resolution and other data that most gamers do not want to part with without their explicit permission.

It is quite strange to note that later Firor makes an entirely different statement, “Several factors came together in Update 18 and Red Shell was erroneously added to the build when were still testing and evaluating it.” His claim that the software was added ‘erroneously’ contradicts his previous claim that they inserted it for advertisement purposes. So which is it Firor? Advertisement purposes or a slip of the mind? Bethesda has since removed the tracking software, but the fact that they considered the possibility of using this service to anonymously collect user data speaks volumes about their commitment to privacy rights.

Many PC gamers caught on to this fact and began warning each other about the surveillance potential of games which contain the software. A Steam subreddit has been created and includes several big titles such as Civilization IV, Total War, Kerbal Space Program and more recently, Conan Exiles. 

So what really is Red Shell?

Red Shell is a software that collects data to track user habits. Now this statement might sound creepy, the software itself isn’t that terrible. The problem however, is when game studios implement the software into their games without notifying users about them, or bothering to explain them exactly what they are targeting. Users would be more willing to part away with personally identifiable information if game studios were honest about the use of their data.

One user on Reddit, Alexspeed75 says, “On their website they formulate it all in very harmless language, but the fact is that this is software from someone I don’t trust and whom I never invited, which is looking at my data and running on my pc against my will.” This assessment is on point.

The software’s official website has an FAQ where it insists that they aren’t spyware, but to make matters worse, they joke around about sharing a name with a Trojan virus.

Regardless of whether Red Shell is a spyware or not is a separate debate, for now, many game studios like Bethesda, Crytek and Creative Assembly have taken customer backlash seriously and will no longer be using the program moving forwards.