The statement goes on to state that the game’s online functionality “depends on the goodwill of Frogwares to perform” and that failure to do so on their part does not reflect on Nacon. With this ruling, Nacon now has the right to sell The Sinking City again. What that basically means is that Frogwares must adhere to the terms of the original publishing contract for the time being. "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 (.)'". Today, a press release from Nacon announces that, despite the dispute still pending before the French courts, a first enforceable decision was rendered in their favor: Frogwares responded by filing a lawsuit again Nacon. Frogwares says the breaking point came after the game’s launch, when Nacon allegedly canceled its previously approved milestones, meaning Frogwares would not receive any profit from sales of The Sinking City. Problems began soon after the agreement was made, with Frogwares alleging that Nacon was consistently behind on milestone payments, delivered inconsistent sales forecast data, and demanded The Sinking City’s source code for use in their own Lovecraft-inspired project. The deal also stipulated that Frogwares would receive payments from Nacon for each development milestone hit. The Sinking City IP rights would still belong to Frogwares, however. According to Frogwares, it gave Nacon the right to sell/commercialize the game in exchange for their funding. The original dispute centers on an agreement made between Frogwares and Nacon two years after production began on The Sinking City.
After months of litigation, the French court has ruled in favor of Nacon, and The Sinking City is back on sale on the Microsoft Store and will return to PlayStation and PC storefronts “at a later date”. The game was delisted in August 2020 due to a nasty contract dispute between developer Frogwares and publisher BigBen Interactive/Nacon. You might remember The Sinking City, a Lovecraftian horror game that launched in June 2019 to middling reviews (read ours here).
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