The sinking city is a Lovecraftian horror detective game released in the summer of 2019, and then disappeared from most online store windows in August 2020 due to a dispute between publisher Nacon and developer Frogwares. Today, the game returns to store windows. It’s on sale in the Microsoft Store for Xbox One; it will return to Steam and the PlayStation Store later.
The game was removed on August 25, 2020 from Steam, the Epic Games Store, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. At the time, Frogwares issued an open letter outlining its side of its recent legal dispute with publisher Nacon. Bigben Interactive. The letter alleges that Nacon refused to pay royalties, with the total debt at ‘approximately’ 1 million euros’. Frogwares also concentrated on marketing the game from Nacon, which the studio viewed as misleading consumers into thinking Nacon was the developer of the project.
“Short version: We were forced to terminate the contract with our licensee due to several breaches of our agreement,” reads the statement released by Frogwares. ‘We urge you to read this open letter to our supporters, journalists and people in the industry, to understand why this is happening and how you can still get The sinking city. ”
Nacon issued a statement today with an update on the lawsuit. The dispute between Nacon and Frogwares is still pending before the French courts and will continue for several months. However, on 28 October 2020, the Paris Court of Appeal delivered its first enforceable decision. The court ruled that Frogwares had terminated his contract unlawfully, and the contract will therefore continue until further decisions are made. The court ordered Frogwares to “refrain from any action regarding the breach of this contract, [and to] refrain from any action that impedes this continuation. ”
Nacon’s statement stated: “Confirmed in its expectations by this decision and notwithstanding the time required to finally resolve this dispute, NACON continues its actions in defense of its rights and continues to carry out this decision by ask platforms and websites to sit The sinking city play online again so no one is held hostage in this situation. However, it is specified that, insofar as some of the online interests of the game depend on Frogwares’ willingness to perform, their absence cannot be attributed to NACON. ”
The sinking city has stayed in the Nintendo Switch store window for the past year, as well as through a few distribution partners, such as Origin and Game Planet.
Polygon reached out to both Nacon and Frogwares, and both parties declined to comment.