The Red Shell Spyware Controversy emerged in mid-2018 when PC gamers discovered that a third-party marketing attribution tool called Red Shell was being bundled into dozens of popular titles, including Civilization VI and Kerbal Space Program. Although developers argued the tool was only used to track the effectiveness of advertisements, the community labeled it 'spyware' due to its data collection without explicit user consent. This led to a massive wave of review-bombing on Steam and a PR nightmare for studios, most of whom eventually removed the software. The meme is now used to highlight issues of digital privacy, corporate overreach, and the power of collective gamer backlash.