Following an accusation of piracy against him The sinking city developer Frogwares, Nacon dismissed the developer in a statement claiming that Frogwares’ lack of cooperation in getting the game to Steam triggered a clause in his contract that allows the publisher to modify and host an alternate version of the game on the platform .
It is the latest in an increasingly messy direction between the two companies, centered around The sinking city and an ongoing dispute over the publication agreement between Nacon and Frogwares.
Earlier in the conflict, The sinking city was taken off sale due to disagreement, but as of this year, Nacon has received the green light to reread the game on several platforms, including Steam. There things get especially messy.
Frogwares wrote a PSA on Twitter shortly after the game reappeared on Steam, warning players not to buy what he later called an illegitimate version of the game. Nacon, in a statement sent to Steam, then claimed that the version he published was “official and complete”, despite Frogwares’ claims. This led to the release by Frogwares of a 9-minute long video describing how the Steam version of The sinking city it was actually a modified version of the game distributed on GamesPlanet and accuses Nacon of essentially selling a pirated version of the game.
“According to the court decision, Nacon has repeatedly and unsuccessfully requested that Frogwares make the game available on Steam, otherwise it would apply a clause in the contract where such a case would be adapted by a third party. part, “Nacon explains.
This is the justification given in today’s statement for what Frogwares calls piracy: Nacon has worked with one of its subsidiaries to adapt a different version of the game for Steam after Frogwares’ alleged refusal to cooperate.
However, last night, Frogwares managed to remove the game from Steam with a DMCA removal. Now, Nacon claims to have released only that modified version of The sinking city due to Frogwares’ refusal to provide him with the Steam version of the game, something Nacon says was ordered by a Paris court during his ongoing litigation.
“In the past, Frogwares relied improperly on allegations of non-payment to refuse to deliver the game on Steam, at which point they tried unsuccessfully to terminate the contract,” the statement from Nacon said. The Paris Court of Appeal considered this action to be “manifestly illegal”; ordering the continuation of the contract and encouraging Frogwares to refrain “from any action which would prevent such continuation”. “
Nacon continues to describe Frogwares’ actions as a deliberate sabotage against his attempts to recoup his investment in the development of the game, financing Nacon for exceeding 10 million euros. He claims that Frogwares refuses to hand over a copy of Steam-ready The sinking city allowed him to look for other means to lift the game on the platform.
Beyond that, it also reaffirms that it has exclusive distribution rights for The sinking city on Steam and counts the previous allegations of Frogwares, saying that the developer has and is still entitled to any royalties generated by Steam sales (if the game reappears on the platform).
The statement closes with a weak legal threat against Frogwares for his “aggressive and prejudicial comments”, which makes it seem unlikely that this argument will have a calm solution soon.
Update: Interestingly, a statement published by Frogwares on the elimination of DMCA The sinking city seems to contradict some of Nacon’s claims. Specifically, Nacon says the court directed Frogwares to comply with Nacon’s desire to bring The sinking city back to Steam.
Meanwhile, in Frogwares’ statement: “We are aware that a final decision on whether Frogwares is required to deliver a Steam version has not yet been adopted and could take years. As it stands, we have an appeal to the appellate court that, until further notice, Frogwares must not deliver a Steam version to Nacon. “