Frogwares, the developer behind Lovecraftian horror The Sinking City, have been embroiled in a bitter legal dispute with publishers Nacon for a while, but the latest chapter seems to be the most curious. Frogwares are claiming that Nacon uploaded a pirated version of The Sinking City to Steam.
Wait, What’s Going Here?
The situation first properly started back in 2020, when Frogwares removed the game from sale and terminated its contract with the publisher due to Nacon owing Frogwares close to €1 million in royalties due to the game reaching certain milestones. However, last month, the Paris Court of Appeal stated that Frogwares acted in a “manifestly unlawful manner” when terminating their contract, forcing the game to be relisted on digital storefronts.
So What’s Going On Now?
This takes us to last week, where The Sinking City was suddenly reuploaded to Steam. Frogwares tweeted out at the time that this version of the game wasn’t created by them, and urged fans not to buy that version of the game. Nacon then published a statement on the game’s Steam page alleging that the game’s current re-upload is due to Frogwares’ “lack of cooperation” with the publisher, adding that Frogwares would like to “revise the terms of the contract to their sole advantage”.
This brings us up to date, as Frogwares have published a very detailed blog post about the situation, alleging that Nacon purchased the game through Gamesplanet, illegally modified the game to remove mention of Frogwares, Gamesplanet and even remove an advert for Sherlock Holmes Chapter One, a fellow Frogwares game. Astonishingly, Frogwares allege that this is the third time Nacon have tried to do this in as many months, and the second time on Steam.
Frogwares even state that Nacon uploaded the Deluxe Edition version of the game to Steam, which includes certain DLC that Nacon don’t have a claim to. The post goes through the process that Frogwares went through to investigate this version of the game, including how Nacon decompiled and modified the game.
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