Lovecraftian’s detective game The Sinking City has been on and off several times recently due to an ongoing dispute between developers Frogwares and publisher Nacon. Earlier this week, Frogwares accused Nacon of pirating the game for releasing it on Steam and issued a DMCA notice to Valve to have it removed from the store window. Nacon has now responded by saying that they acted within the rights of their contract to make a version of the game available in the store.
Previously, the dispute between Frogwares and Nacon involved Frogwares’ allegation that Nacon had breached their contract by missing out on the payments due to the developers. Frogwares removed the game from Steam, which according to French courts illegally terminated their contract, and they were told to maintain it until the dispute could be settled.
The game returned to Steam last week, but Frogwares believes the version was not made by them. On Monday, they released the video below in which they explain that they believe Nacon pirated a copy of The Sinking City to sell it on Steam.
In a new statement, Nacon addressed the allegations that their release of the game was based on a pirate copy. “Nacon is contractually the only exclusive distributor of The Sinking City game on Steam,” they say.
“In accordance with the decision of the courts, Nacon has repeatedly and unsuccessfully requested that Frogwares make the game available on Steam, failing to apply a clause in the contract in which such a case would be amended by a third party. Frogwares then attempted, without Nacon’s knowledge and in violation of our rights, to make the game available on Steam without mentioning Nacon in its capacity as publisher, so this is clear proof that no technical impossibility of the game again can not turn on Steam. “
“Despite this blocking situation created solely by Frogwares, Nacon has allowed players access to the game on Steam while still expressly indicating ownership of Frogwares’ rights to the game. Frogwares will also receive the royalties granted by Steam. sales are generated. “
Nacon also claims that they paid all amounts due to Frogwares. “By encouraging the gambling community via Twitter not to buy the game on Steam, Frogwares is again sabotaging our investments in the game,” they say.
The Sinking City is currently unavailable on Steam.