Google banned Terraria's developer account, and Re-Logic cancelled its Stadia port

Ars Technica reported on 8 February 2021 that Google had banned the Google account of Andrew Spinks, lead developer of Terraria, after a terms-of-service flag on the YouTube channel of his company Re-Logic. Re-Logic said it received an email about a violation that was 'likely accidental' and would bring no strikes. Three days later the entire Google account, including YouTube, Gmail and 15 years of Google Play purchases, was disabled with no warning or recourse, disrupting several business functions.

After about three weeks, Spinks said Google had 'done nothing but given me the runaround'. YouTube support publicly suggested accessing the banned email, using the forgotten-password recovery tool and a guide to recover a voluntarily deleted account, none of which fit. Spinks then announced that Terraria for Google Stadia was cancelled and that his company would stop supporting Google platforms: 'Doing business with you is a liability.'

Ars said Google's single-account system means one ban can remove email, photos, two-factor codes and a developer's businesses at once, and that the public cancellation of a hit indie game for Google's own streaming service was probably a good way to get the case heard.

A cancelled Terraria port for Google Stadia and Re-Logic's refusal to support any Google platform.

A terms-of-service flag on a YouTube channel led to the whole Google account being disabled, with no warning, per Re-Logic.

The ban removed access to Gmail, so the developer could not read the notice or explain what had happened.

YouTube support's public replies addressed forgotten passwords and deleted accounts, not a ban.

Google had no obvious path for a business partner to dispute the ban.

A single-account platform that bans first and cannot explain turns one flag into a business-wide outage; partners will leave rather than wait.

Ars said it asked Google for comment and would update the post; the article does not include a Google response. Spinks said Re-Logic would no longer support any of Google's platforms.