Last year saw the release of Frogwares’ latest detective game, the Lovecraftian-inspired The Sinking City. The game was said to be successful, and overall it was solid title. However, it ended up at the center of a dispute between the developer and publisher/licensee Nacon (known at that time as Big Ben Interactive). It was a messy affair that you can read more about through here, and ended up resulting in the game being pulled from several digital storefronts, namely PSN, Xbox Live, Steam and the Epic Games Store. It seems now it’s being prepped to return.
Nacon issued a statement on their official website, saying that while the lawsuit is still ongoing, French courts have issued their first enforceable ruling. They have apparently ruled in favor of Nacon and that Frogwares did terminate their contract unlawfully. While they make clear that this is not the full conclusion, it has resulted in the ability to return the game to those storefronts.
“The Court ruled that Frogwares had terminated the contract in a “manifestly unlawful” manner and, as a result, ordered, as a “precautionary measure, the continuation of the contract (…) until its term or until a decision is made on the breach of this contract and ordered Frogwares Ireland to refrain from any action on the breach of this contract and ordered Frogwares Ireland to refrain from any action that impedes this continuation (…).
“Confirmed in its expectations by this decision and regardless of the time needed to resolve this dispute definitively, NACON is continuing its action in defense of its rights and has proceeded with the execution of this court decision by asking platforms and sites to put The Sinking City game back online so that no one is held hostage to this situation. It is however specified that insofar as some of the game’s online stakes depend on the goodwill of Frogwares to perform, their absence cannot be attributed to NACON.”
The Sinking City was still available digitally on the Nintendo eShop and other PC digital fronts like Origin due to Frogwares being the sole publisher there. The game is now once again available to buy and download on the Xbox Store, with plans to return to PSN and Steam at a later date. The game was also removed from the Epic Games Store, and while presumably it will return there as well, there is no mention of it in Nacon’s statement above. We’ll keep you updated on the story when more information comes.