The Sinking City Back on Steam, Devs Advise Against Buying
After months of court battles, The Sinking City went on sale on Steam. However, the studio responsible for the game, Frogwares, warns against buying this version.
- The Sinking City is back sale on Steam;
- The devs warn not to buy this edition;
- The game lacks some elements, which results in low ratings from users;
- The whole thing is another stage of conflict between Frogwares and publisher, Nacon.
The Sinking City finally returned on sale on Steam. Frogwares, responsible for this project, warns fans not to buy this version. The devs explain this appeal by the fact that they did not work on the re-release. More details are to be revealed soon. This is another stage of the long conflict between the devs and the publisher. The project first released on Epic Games Store, and then was pulled at the request of the company. The devs independently released the game on Steam in January, this year, but it was only available for a few hours.
Looking at the project's profile on Steam, there is no doubt that overall this is the same game that Frogwares completed in 2019. So it seems that the devs are simply cutting themselves off from this particular edition, currently available on Steam, because it was released without their involvement. An analysis of the game's profile on the service supports such conclusions. The web address of The Sinking City's card on the website is different than before. The ID number on Steam database has also changed - instead of the previous 1151760 (which lists Frogwares as the publisher), it's 750130, which lists Nacon as the publisher. In other words, Nacon simply uploaded the game to Valve's distribution service on their own, skipping the developer in the process.
What's more, it seems that the developers are warning against buying the re-release not only because they probably won't make money on it. The game receives terrible reviews on Steam (only 27% are positive), because it is an incomplete edition of the title, without achievements, DLC or the ability to create saves in the cloud, among other things.
Interestingly, it seems that, at least initially, Frogwares had access to the re-release's profile on Steam, most likely because they are labeled as the devs of The Sinking City. This is because the notice warning against purchasing was published on the game's card. However, it was quickly removed.
The whole confusion is caused by a conflict between the publisher and the developer. Frogwares claims that Nacon did not meet its contractual obligations, both in terms of financing the development of the game and royalties from sales. As a result, last August the studio forced the removal of The Sinking City from distribution on Epic Games Store (the game was initially not available on Steam). For many months, the title could only be purchased on the developer's store, on Origin and on Nintendo's eShop (Switch version).
Eventually, the publisher and the devs met in court. This case has not yet found its finale, but a decision was issued, forcing Frogwares to stop blocking the release of The Sinking City on Steam. The game made available on the store from January 5, this year and it was the complete edition, with Frogwares listed as publisher, but it was possible to buy it only for a few hours, which was probably due to Nacon's intervention.
The fact that the game is again available on Steam probably doensn't mean the end of all the confusion. Frogwares's message shows that the matter is far from over, so probably we will still hear about the conflict of these companies in the future.
