This announcement followed an October 2020 court ruling decreeing that Frogwares take no further action regarding the contract until a final decision was reached, essentially maintaining the original publishing contract for the foreseeable future.įrogwares responded not long after, maintaining that Nacon had altered and uploaded what essentially amounted to an illegally pirated version of the game to Steam’s storefront. However, by March 2021 Nacon had, in turn, produced a statement that The Sinking City would be returning to the Microsoft, PlayStation, and Steam digital stores. The game was thus pulled from several digital storefronts by August 2020. They utilised clause 4.2 of the contract to do so, which enables one party to the contract to terminate 30 days following formal notice if the breach of contract is not resolved in that time. Ultimately, after 11 months of failed attempts at resolving the issues, Frogwares opted to terminate the original licensing contract on April 20th, 2020. Meanwhile, Frogwares contends, both physical and digital copies of The Sinking City were sold without copyright notices naming Frogwares as the owner of the IP and absent the Frogwares logo from some marketing materials. The initial lawsuit filed by Frogwares produced incomplete and questionably accurate income reports from sales. Thus commenced the legal difficulties in earnest. Together, these two issues impeded Frogwares’ capacity to plan the scope of not just The Sinking City but also its future actions and projects as a developer.įinally, once The Sinking City was released on June 27th, 2019, Frogwares received communications from Nacon that the previously discussed milestone installments would be canceled. ![]() The publisher also communicated inconsistently, Oganesyan explained, about sales forecasts and plans. For instance, when Nacon bought a “competing” studio that was also working on a Lovecraft-inspired game, it demanded The Sinking City’s source code, despite the previously agreed upon ownership by Frogwares.Īccording to the statement, once Frogwares refused to comply with this demand, Nacon began withholding its agreed-upon financial contributions for a period of over four months. However, Frogwares maintains that Nacon soon began utilizing their involvement in sales and distribution to exert pressure on the developer. The terms of this agreement were that Frogwares would receive paid installments at agreed-upon production milestones. In turn, Nacon would make a financial contribution to the game’s ongoing development, while Frogwares would maintain sole ownership of the game’s IP. In its original iteration, this contract signed 2 years after game production started, established that Nacon secured the right to sell and commercialize The Sinking City on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Steam, and the Epic Games Store. ![]() The Sinking City‘s release and resultant grievances between developer and publisher are detailed at length in Frogwares’ statement posted on August 25th, 2020.Īt that time, Frogwares’ marketing manager Sergey Oganesyan posted an open letter on Frogwares’ website, maintaining that The Sinking City had been pulled from Steam and other storefronts due to a violation of the developer’s licensing agreement with Nacon. This well-documented legal dispute originates in June 2019. It's also available through Origin (opens in new tab), but was never actually removed from that storefront.In the latest development of a lengthy legal dispute between developer Frogwares and publisher Nacon, Frogwares has issued a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) strike against Nacon following the reappearance of The Sinking City on Steam’s digital storefront. Accordingly, The Sinking City was returned to Steam (opens in new tab) and other storefronts, but very shortly it disappeared again, without explanation, although it remained (and remains) available on the Microsoft Store (opens in new tab). In January 2021, a preliminary ruling in the matter found that Frogwares had terminated its contract with Nacon "in a 'manifestly unlawful' manner," and thus ordered its terms restored. Frogwares claimed that Nacon failed to finance development as promised and failed to file accurate income reports, while Nacon said Frogwares was simply making wild claims in order to discredit the publisher in the eyes of the public. First, a recap: The Sinking City, a 1920s detective game set in a flooded fishing town built atop caverns crawling with Lovecraftian horrors, was removed from most digital storefronts in 2020 following a dispute (opens in new tab) between Frogwares and publisher Nacon.
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