Jump to content
The Dark Mod Forums

The Sinking City delisted on Steam etc.


STiFU

Recommended Posts

I know a lot of people here like lovecraftian horror, so you probably have heard about the game "The Sinking City". I had it on my radar for quite some time, but I recently learned that it had been removed from the Steam-store and I only now found out why.

There was a statement by the dev studio Frogwares describing how their publisher BigBen/Nacon basically tried to rob them of their interlectual property and owes the studio more than 1 million € in royalties and also a couple of months of contract payments for development milestones. This in the end lead to Frogwares having to pull the game from quite a few major stores. This story shows once again how publishers can be utter capitalist evil... 

I usually wait until games are cheaper, but after reading this, I want to show my support, so I am going to get a DRM-free copy from Gamesplanet now. I am also really curious for this game, so I am happy to pay the retail price.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That company seems to be the target some fishy publishers, I remember something similar happening with some of their Sherlock Games, they removed a few from most stores because of some legal reason but later they returned. I think the same will happen to this game, they will not let, I assume years of work, go down the drain like that, specially when they have the game done and full control over the IP. 

Edited by HMart
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Game is quite good though a bit of an offshot lovecraftian wise, cthylla ?!? instead of cthulhu so his daughter ( damn his sexlive must be scarier than the actual horror stories about him xD ).

Game is mostly detective work though some areas can be dangerous but nothing to serious.

Compared with the old dark corners its easy mode, but that one was plagued by so many bugs that it did not matter how good you were.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, revelator said:

Compared with the old dark corners its easy mode, but that one was plagued by so many bugs that it did not matter how good you were.

Still loved "Call of Cthulhu", 'though. So it seems, the sinking city is gonna be perfect for me. Thanks for the brief review.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I feel sorry for Frogwares. They are a good developer and have only been improving as time has gone on.

Pity they don't have much luck with publishers.

I remember that Frictional Games ran into the same problem with their first Penumbra game back in the day. The British publisher they teamed up with nearly scammed them, so they published the rest of the series and its compilations under Paradox, and have largelly self-published since.

I get the impression many smaller indie studios tend to pick these smaller publishers because it's simply more economical, but the inherent risk is that a lot of these publishers either go out of business quickly or aren't even as minimally scrupulous as some of the bigger publishers (and I say that as someone completely unwilling to defend big game publishers, especially the triple-A malarkey of EA or Activision-Blizzard).

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I will not jump immediately 100% to the side of Frogwares, like many here, why, because this seems really suspicious to me, Nanco left huge clues behind, like they didn't care if they got caught, is if they are very sure they will win any law suit frogwares throw at them and that maybe because of something we don't know. We only heard one side here. 

But don't think I condone the behavior or any publisher stealing developers. 

Edited by HMart
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, HMart said:

I will not jump immediately 100% to the side of Frogwares, like many here, why, because this seems really suspicious to me, Nanco left huge clues behind, like they didn't care if they got caught, is if they are very sure they will win any law suit frogwares throw at them and that maybe because of something we don't know. We only heard one side here. 

But don't think I condone the behavior or any publisher stealing developers. 

My bet would be "lack of expertise" in Nacon's Management, rather than "believing they are on the right side". What they did in this instance is definitely illegal, because the version uploaded to Games Planet never belonged to them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recent Status Updates

    • Petike the Taffer

      I've finally managed to log in to The Dark Mod Wiki. I'm back in the saddle and before the holidays start in full, I'll be adding a few new FM articles and doing other updates. Written in Stone is already done.
      · 4 replies
    • nbohr1more

      TDM 15th Anniversary Contest is now active! Please declare your participation: https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/22413-the-dark-mod-15th-anniversary-contest-entry-thread/
       
      · 0 replies
    • JackFarmer

      @TheUnbeholden
      You cannot receive PMs. Could you please be so kind and check your mailbox if it is full (or maybe you switched off the function)?
      · 1 reply
    • OrbWeaver

      I like the new frob highlight but it would nice if it was less "flickery" while moving over objects (especially barred metal doors).
      · 4 replies
    • nbohr1more

      Please vote in the 15th Anniversary Contest Theme Poll
       
      · 0 replies
×
×
  • Create New...