Skip to main content

Gaming companies become impersonation targets as Twitter verification opens to all

Twitter verification is now available to Twitter Blue subscribers who pay $8 a month, allowing any account to gain a blue checkmark. The change has led to an instant problem across the website, as users are already paying to impersonate some of gaming’s biggest companies.

The change comes as part of new Twitter owner Elon Musk’s fast and sweeping changes to the service. On Tuesday alone, the company rolled out a new form of “Official” badge on profiles to distinguish official accounts from fakers. That feature was shut down within a few hours, while paid verification began rolling out later that day. Users wasted no time in abusing the system. A fake Nintendo of America account tweets a photo of Mario giving the middle finger.

Related Videos

For instance, a Twitter account named @nIntendoofus changed its display name to Nintendo of America, mirroring the profile picture and header image of Nintendo’s actual account. It began tweeting fake announcements, including news that a sequel to Super Mario Galaxy was in development. Shortly after, it tweeted a photo of Mario giving the middle finger, quickly racking up over 10,000 likes. The account has since been shut down.

Valve is currently a target of a similar prank, thanks to a now-verified account that managed to snag the handle @valvesotfware (note the t and the f positions there). The account, which has 21,000 followers at the time of writing, tweeted a teaser for new project titled Ricochet: Neon Prime, a fake sequel to 2000’s Ricochet. Of course, it’s all a joke, as the account’s pinned tweet points out a flaw in Twitter’s current verification system.

“Twitter Blue is a problem, 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. You now own a massive platform and this is what you choose to do with it, do better,” the account tweets, tagging Elon Musk.

A fake Valve Software account tweets about a new game called Ricochet: Neon Prime.

Nintendo and Valve aren’t the only accounts facing impersonators. Public figures from Rudolph Giuliani to Elon Musk himself now have copycat accounts with blue checkmarks, creating an immediate hurdle for the site’s new system. Musk previously noted that accounts that are found impersonating real people and not marked as parody will be suspended, though accounts that have clearly noted they are parodies have been shut down, creating confusion about Twitter’s new rules.

Editors' Recommendations

#RedDeadFuneral trends on Twitter as fans mourn loss of Red Dead Online
reddeadfuneral trends on twitter as fans mourn loss of red dead online

#RedDeadFuneral is trending on Twitter as fans memorialize Red Dead Online, the multiplayer online expansion of Red Dead Redemption 2.

On July 13, 2021, Rockstar Games gave Red Dead Online fans new content with the Blood Money update. Since then, the community has waited patiently for more substantial updates, but received next to nothing. On Wednesday, fans declared the game deceased, inviting each other to log into the game to drink at Valentine and Blackwater Graveyard and post screenshots of their characters dressed in black and paying their respects to the game on social media.

Read more
You don’t need a Facebook account to use your Oculus Quest 2 anymore
Oculus Quest VR Headset

Meta has announced you will no longer be required to have a Facebook account to log into the Quest headset starting next month. However, you may have to create a new Meta account if you want to play any VR games.

Founder Mark Zuckerberg announced the new change in a Facebook post on Thursday, saying that Meta is rolling out new accounts for Oculus Quest owners to use instead of their Facebook account. He then added: "This will give everyone more choice about how you show up in the metaverse."

Read more
TikTok is diving into games
Tik Tok app

TikTok is pulling a Netflix and embarking on its latest attempt to keep users engaged on the app: Video games.

According to a report from Reuters, four sources familiar with the matter said that the short-form video platform and its parent company ByteDance have been conducting tests on video games in Vietnam. To the surprise of no one, the test group comprises mostly young users — specifically, users under the age of 35 — as they are more tech-savvy than older generations.

Read more