It's Time for Real Change

SteamWatch - Steam Enforces "Hidden Cats" Trademark - Indie Developers Forced to Rename or Risk Removal

“Hidden Cats” is a micro-genre within the broader hidden object (HOG) space: illustrated puzzle games where players search detailed scenes to find concealed cats. Over the past several years, multiple independent studios have released titles using variations of that phrase. Players often own several of them from different developers. The wording functions as genre shorthand.

Right now, Steam is enforcing a registered U.S. trademark over that phrase. NukeArts Studio holds the trademark HIDDEN CATS[tsdr.uspto.gov] (Reg. No. 7,968,484). Following a complaint from NukeArts, Steam has contacted multiple developers and instructed them to remove both words from their game titles or risk removal from the store. The compliance deadline is March 2nd.

We take a clear position: the enforcement of this trademark on Steam is anti-competitive in effect, harmful to consumers, and damaging to independent developers. Steam’s handling of the dispute amplifies those harms

NukeArts weren't the originators of hidden object games featuring cats. Nor were they the only studio using the wording “Hidden Cats” or variations of it before the trademark was granted, nor were they the first ones to do so, even on Steam.

https://psteamproxy.yuanyoumao.com/app/1587560/100_hidden_cats/

One of the games that was forced to change their names even pre-dates NukeArts in "Hidden Cats" games.

https://psteamproxy.yuanyoumao.com/app/2907010/FIND_KITTENS_The_last_of_cats/

What they did was secure the registration first. The complaint submitted to Steam makes their intention clear. It doesn't simply argue that specific titles are confusing. It asks Steam to consider the registered mark when reviewing future game submissions that use “Hidden Cats” or similar phrasing as a dominant title element in the same genre.

One of the developers impacted kindly provided me the NukeArts complaint and you can find this below with only names redacted.

引用自 NukeArts' Complaint：

ORIGINAL COMPLAINT

CONTENT BEING REPORTED

Hidden Cats? is a registered trademark of Nukearts Studio in the United States.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Reg. No. 7,968,484
Registered Sep. 30, 2025
CLASS 9: Downloadable video game software; Downloadable printable coloring books; Downloadable posters

ORIGINAL CONTENT

I am [REDACTED], CEO of Nukearts Studio, the developer and publisher of the Hidden Cats game franchise.

Nukearts Studio is the owner of the registered trademark “Hidden Cats”, with a valid trademark registration in the United States (USPTO), covering the products referenced herein.

We have consistently published games under the Hidden Cats franchise over the past several years, including Hidden Cats in Paris, Hidden Cats in New York, Hidden Cats in Rio de Janeiro, among others. These titles share a cohesive visual identity and branding that players directly associate with our studio.

We have recently identified multiple games on Steam whose titles begin with “Hidden Cats”, such as Hidden Cats: The Last of Cats, as well as titles that invert the wording, such as Cats Hidden Around the World. These games were released by unrelated developers after our franchise was established, operate within the same genre, and use nearly identical phrasing to our registered trademark. Use of the registered trademark HIDDEN CATS as a prefix or dominant element in similar products constitutes trademark infringement, regardless of suffix or subtitle.

There is clear evidence of marketplace confusion, including YouTube videos in which influencers mistakenly display our Hidden Cats branding or logos while showcasing these third-party games. This demonstrates that consumers are being misled and are likely to believe that these unrelated titles are part of our official franchise.

For these reasons, we believe these uses constitute trademark infringement and trademark dilution. We respectfully request that Valve review the titles listed below and take appropriate enforcement action in accordance with Steam’s intellectual property policies.

Additionally, we kindly request that Valve take this registered trademark into consideration when reviewing future game submissions that use “Hidden Cats” or confusingly similar variations as a dominant title element within the same genre.

Our intention is to prevent continued consumer confusion and repeated enforcement actions, and to ensure that our registered trademark rights are respected on the Steam platform going forward.

A complete list of the infringing titles and their corresponding Steam links is provided below.

Plaintiff

That isn't defensive brand protection in isolation. It's an attempt to control the naming conventions of a micro-genre on the largest PC marketplace in the world. It consolidates market visibility under one trademark holder. It restricts how competitors describe their own games. That is anti-competitive in practice, even if technically permissible under trademark law.


Steam issued a notice to developers, I've included this also in full below redacting names and the specific games to ensure the developer who forwarded this to me remains anonymous.

引用自 Steam：

Hello,

We've received a trademark complaint from trademark holder [REDACTED] of Nukearts Studios against the following games:

[REDACTED] asserts your game titles infringe their IP in HIDDEN CATS. The trademark registration information can be viewed here:

https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=99016415&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch

https://branddb.wipo.int/en/similarname/results?sort=score%20desc&rows=120&asStructure=%7B%22_id%22:%22570c%22,%22boolean%22:%22AND%22,%22bricks%22:%5B%7B%22_id%22:%22570d%22,%22key%22:%22brandName%22,%22value%22:%22hidden%20cats%22,%22strategy%22:%22Simple%22%7D,%7B%22_id%22:%22570e%22,%22key%22:%22applicant%22,%22value%22:%22nukearts%22,%22strategy%22:%22Simple%22%7D%5D%7D&fg=_void_&_=1771453906318

Further, Nukearts has been continuously using HIDDEN CATS on Steam since at least 2022.

We know your games are important to you, so we ask that you change the infringing titles by the end of the day on March 2nd, 2026.

*The following game was not included in the trademark complaint. However, we're giving you a grace period to change all titles that infringe on [REDACTED]'s IP. Please be aware that if we receive a subsequent trademark complaint against the game, we will have to retire it from the store without a grace period:

Please note that the new titles may not contain both HIDDEN and CATS. You may use HIDDEN in your new title, or CATS. You can find more information on the game name editing process here: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/editing/name

I've included the complaint at the end of this email. Please contact [REDACTED] directly with any questions regarding the use of their IP.

I'll check your games again on March 2nd, 2026. Please note that I will be out of the office from 2/22 through 2/28, so any email replies sent during this time will be answered on March 2nd.

Thank you,

Let’s be direct about what this means. The enforcement email was sent one day before the assigned Steam representative went on leave for the majority of the response window. The representative returns effectively on the eve of the deadline. Developers facing legal pressure were given a compliance deadline while their point of contact was unavailable for most of the window. Steam chose to structure enforcement this way. Steam didn't pause the deadline. Steam didn't assign an alternative contact. Steam didn't offer an internal mediation channel. Developers were told to comply or pursue legal action externally. For small studios, that isn't a balanced system.


Multiple developers were kind enough to share their experiences with me.

Developer Matt Roszak wrote to me:

引用自 Matt Roszak：

I spent the next 48 hours quickly brainstorming some ideas and rebranding everything. It was a major inconvenience… Because my game was so close to launching, and participating in Next Fest, any sort of legal action I could take would just delay the launch for months, so there was little point in doing anything about it.

Travellin Cats wrote to me and explained the scale of the distribution:

引用自 Travellin Cats：

It’s not just a title change. I have to change all the Steam capsules, trailers, backend stuff and the game builds themselves plus new code to not break existing saves etc. It’s been a huge undertaking to do this across around 20 app ids.

Their lawyer advised that challenging the trademark would likely be costly and uncertain. Travellin Cats concluded:

引用自 Travellin Cats：

I choose to rename my games because Valve just complies. From my experience they don't listen to arguments so it would have been money thrown out of the window.

Even a developer who urged caution about publicity acknowledged that their own studio had been required to change its name. These are not developers celebrating a fair process. These are developers making rational economic decisions under pressure.

Challenging a trademark can cost tens of thousands. Renaming costs far less. Steam’s enforcement structure ensures that the cheaper path is surrender.


Players may not immediately feel the impact. Their purchased games remain playable. But the harm is real. When a genre-defining phrase becomes controlled property, search visibility consolidates. Discoverability narrows. Smaller studios lose descriptive clarity. Future developers avoid obvious genre naming. Market perception shifts toward a single trademark holder. Consumers lose clarity in search. Consumers lose diversity in branding. Consumers lose transparency in how genres are labelled. This isn't protecting consumers from confusion. It's restricting how competitors describe their own products in a shared genre space. That benefits one studio. It doesn't benefit the market.


At least one developer has confirmed they haven't received any communication from Steam regarding a name change. The developer in question is a Chinese developer who released a series of Hidden Cats games in 2024.


Let’s be clear. NukeArts didn't create the "Hidden Cats" micro-genre. They registered the phrase first.

Steam didn't create trademark law. But Steam chose how to enforce it.

The outcome is independent developers absorbing cost. Any legal challenge is priced out of reach. A descriptive genre phrase has been effectively consolidated. Consumers are losing clarity in discovery. Steam is structuring enforcement in a way that disadvantages smaller studios. The only clear beneficiary is the trademark holder. This is anti-competitive in effect. It's anti-developer in impact. It's anti-consumer in outcome.

If Steam's reputation is to mean anything, it can't simply default to procedural enforcement when the practical effect is market consolidation. This process is still ongoing. Developers are still renaming titles. The compliance window is still open. The imbalance is still playing out in real time. Steam can choose to be more than a passive conduit for market control. Whether it will remains to be seen.

If you wish to support the developers that are embattling this at the moment, please feel free to check out their games in the links below. Buy their games. Write them reviews. Leave your words of support and encouragement. If you're a developer who has also had to battle with these trademark enforcements, get in touch and I'll be happy to include you in the list below.

Travellin Cats
Matt Roszak
Gemcraft Games
cdhy interactive
Very Very LITTLE Studio

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