The Sinking City – Epic Games Store Deal Was Important For Studio’s Future

For PC players, the topic of the Epic Games Store is a polarizing one, to be sure. We’re reported extensively on the various developments and controversies with the store, the latest big one being Shenmue 3. Well, another game caught up in all of that is Frogwares’ Lovecraft-inspired The Sinking City. Today the developer has addressed the exclusive deal, talking about the frustration of fans and how necessary the move was.

In an interview with Twinfinite, Frogwares’ Sergey Oganesyan talked a lot about the game, including about the game’s DLC, as well as the recently announced Switch version. When asked about the Epic Games Store deal, he was blunt. He said that he completely understood the backlash from fans and the frustration some felt with the move. However, he reminded people that Frogwares is a midrange developer, and they felt the deal would be a good financial deal for the future of the studio.

“We have people being disappointed with this decision,” said Oganesyan. “We even have people being very angry about this decision. We have people being frustrated about this decision. And we have people who are okay with this decision, obviously. On our Facebook page, on our YouTube channel, yes, we get comments from people who are not happy because they will not be able to play this game on their favorite storefront this year. We understand the frustration. At the same time, we ask the players to understand that we had to make this choice as it is important for our future as a game development company. So it’s a huge boost to us being able to develop more games for so many platforms. But yes, I do understand the frustration.”

No one is quite sure exactly what kind of compensation Epic is offering for these exclusive deals, but in the case of The Sinking City, it seems Bigben Interactive and Frogwares thought it was a necessary thing for the future. The game releases June 27th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, with a Switch version scheduled for later in the year.