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Following a hacking charge leveled against him by The sinking city Frogwares developer, Nacon hit back at the developer with a statement claiming that Frogwares’ lack of cooperation in bringing the game to Steam triggered a clause in their contract that allows the publisher to modify and host an alternate version of the game on the platform.
This is the latest in an increasingly chaotic back-and-forth between the two companies, centered on The sinking city and an ongoing dispute over the publishing agreement between Nacon and Frogwares.
Earlier in the conflict, The sinking city was pulled from sale due to the disagreement but, as of this year, Nacon was given the go-ahead to put the game back on sale on multiple platforms, including Steam. This is where things get particularly complicated.
Frogwares tweeted a PSA shortly after the game’s reappearance on Steam, warning players not to purchase what it later called an illegitimate version of the game. Nacon, in a statement shared to Steam, then argued that the published version was “official and complete” despite the claims of Frogwares. This led Frogwares to post a 9 minute video describing how the Steam version of The sinking city was actually a modified version of the game distributed on GamesPlanet, and accusing Nacon of essentially selling a pirated version of the game.
“In accordance with the court ruling, Nacon repeatedly and unsuccessfully requested that Frogwares make the game available on Steam, failing which it would apply a clause in the contract in which, in such a case, the game would be adapted by a third party. “, explains Nacon.
This is the justification given in today’s statement for what Frogwares calls piracy: Nacon worked with one of its subsidiaries to adapt a different version of the game for Steam after Frogwares allegedly refused cooperation.
Last night however, Frogwares was able to remove the game from Steam via a DMCA takedown. Now, Nacon maintains that he only released this modified version of The sinking city due to Frogwares’ refusal to provide it with the Steam version of the game, something according to Nacon was ordered by a Paris court during its ongoing legal dispute.
“In the past, Frogwares improperly relied on charges of default to refuse delivery of the game on Steam, in which case they tried to terminate the contract without success,” explains this statement from Nacon. “The Paris Court of Appeal ruled this action” manifestly illegal “; ordering the continuation of the contract and encouraging Frogwares to refrain” from any action which would prevent such a continuation “.”
Nacon goes on to describe Frogwares’ actions as deliberate sabotage against its attempts to recoup its investment in game development, Nacon’s funding said to be over 10 million euros. He argues that Frogwares refuses to hand over a Steam-ready copy of The sinking city allowed him to research other ways to launch the game on the platform.
Beyond that, it also reaffirms that it has exclusive distribution rights for The sinking city on Steam and against Frogwares’ previous accusations by saying that the developer was and still is entitled to all royalties generated by sales of Steam (if the game reappears on the platform.)
The statement ends with a cowardly legal threat against Frogwares for “ its aggressive and damaging comments, ” which makes it seem unlikely that this argument will see a calm resolution anytime soon.
Update: Interestingly, a statement issued by Frogwares regarding its removal from the DMCA The sinking city seems to contradict some of Nacon’s claims. Specifically, Nacon says the court ordered Frogwares to comply with Nacon’s desire to bring The sinking city back to Steam.
Meanwhile, in the Frogwares statement: “We are aware that a final decision on whether to provide a Steam version of Frogwares has not yet been made and could take years. As it stands, we have an appeals court ruling that until further notice Frogwares does not need to provide a Steam version to Nacon. “
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