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The Sinking City devs claim publisher pirated the game to release it on SteamUpdate: It’s gone from Steam again after Frogwares issued a DMCA takedown notice
Update: It’s gone from Steam again after Frogwares issued a DMCA takedown notice
Update: Frogwares have issued a DMCA takedown notice to remove Nacon’s version of The Sinking City from Steam. More below. (Original story from March 2nd)
The developers removed the game from sale from some digital storefronts to stop sales going to Nacon. However, in October theFrench courts found that this unlawfully terminated their contractwith the publisher, and they had to play nice with them until the legal dispute was sorted.
The Sinking City started showing up on digital stores again in January, but the version that went up on Steam mysteriously disappeared again shortly after. It only returned last Friday, and now the devs are claiming this new version is a pirated one that Nacon allegedly stole from another storefront.
In a blog post, Frogwares claim the version of the game currently on Steam is one that was originally bought from Gamesplanet. They allege that Nacon altered it to remove Gamesplanet watermarks and logos, as well as advertisements for Frogwares' Sherlock Holmes game.
They go on to explain the tech of it all in more detail, which you can read about in the blog post, or get an idea of in this video explainer they made.
Watch on YouTube
“We believe Nacon did this to hide the fraudulent exploitation of the game on Steam but also on other portals which they may be planning to send the game to. Nacon wants Frogwares or anyone, including the French Justice, to never know the true scope of their exploitation of the game,” Frogwares say.
The developers highlight that they “still fully trust Steam and Gamesplanet”. They believe that Nacon bought The Sinking City legally on Gamesplanet before they allegedly hacked it, and that Steam would have no way of knowing the game was supposedly pirated.
“There are long term damages we need to take care of, Nacon unpacked our data, stole our source code and used it. Nacon can create a new version of The Sinking City using our assets; they can resell, reuse, recycle our content and our tools etc.”
Last night, Nacon responded to Frogwares' comment asking players not to buy the game on Steam.Here’s their statement:
“In regards to feedback on the release of the Sinking City on Steam, this is an official and complete version. However, due to a lack of cooperation with Frogwares, we are unable to integrate Steam-specific features (cloud saving/achievements). Thus, this version contains only the base game, without any additional content. Despite this, we have organized the release so that fans on Steam can enjoy the game.”
Update:The Sinking City is gone from Steam yet again, because Frogwares issued a DMCA takedown notice to get it removed. In a statement toVice Games, Valve said: “The Sinking City has been in dispute in French courts for a while. An interim decision last fall appeared to give Nacon the right to distribute the game on Steam while the litigation proceeded. However, today we received a DMCA take-down notice for the version that Nacon recently shipped, so we have responded to that notice.”
Update:Nacon haveresponded to Frogwares' claimsof piracy, saying that they had acted within their contract in order to release a version on Steam.
