Nacon Accused Of Pirating, Stealing, Illegally Modifying, & Selling Frogwares' Sinking City On Steam
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SOURCE 1: frogwares.com/official-statement-on-removal-of-our-games-from-storefronts-by-focus-home-interactive/
SOURCE 2: www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-04-01-after-20-years-frogwares-leaps-fully-into-self-publishing
SOURCE 3: frogwares.com/the-sinking-city-is-being-delisted-heres-why/
SOURCE 4: www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=sinking+city&_sacat=0
SOURCE 5: www.ign.com/articles/sinking-city-disappeared-frogwares-nacon-bigben-royalties
SOURCE 6: www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-01-05-the-sinking-city-returns-to-stores-as-nacon-wins-first-decision-in-ongoing-legal-dispute
SOURCE 7: www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-02-26-the-sinking-city-developer-asks-users-not-to-buy-its-game-on-steam
SOURCE 8: twitter.com/Frogwares/status/1365385278140133378
SOURCE 9: store.steampowered.com/news/app/750130/view/3058478454630446188
SOURCE 10: www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-03-01-nacon-blames-frogwares-for-feature-lacking-steam-version-of-the-sinking-city
SOURCE 11: twitter.com/thesinkingcity/status/1366483130278961159
SOURCE 12: frogwares.com/how-nacon-cracked-and-pirated-the-sinking-city/
SOURCE 13: www.ign.com/articles/the-sinking-city-developer-frogwares-says-to-not-buy-the-game-on-steam
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@Hirogoeth hello, simp
honestly, I'd either change my name or dissolve after being fucked over so many times.
🤔🤝
I new Nacon has is shady but this makes it even worst
@D Boss Except, you know, Frogwares has been providing actual evidence of misconduct while Nacon has just been releasing PR statements asking Frogwares to lie down and take it.
cancel nacon ?
I swear that Nakon/BigBen Interactive/Focus Home Interactive is going to attempt to bribe/lobby the French courts so they rule in their favor, unless this info gets publicized like hell (IGN or some mainstream news like CNN, BBC). Well, bribery wouldn't work if there is evidence (there is), and everyone is watching, specially if millions in France is watching intently for the ruling. The only way for Frogwares to win this case is if the news spreads fast, and pressures the courts to make a ruling fast, at least in Frogwares' favor.
Everyone should support Frogwares by buying the new updated graphics version for the ps5!!
What a scummy thing to do.
Aw I was really interested in Greedfall but now I don’t want to line those greedy publisher’s pockets
Want To know More of this this is getting good
their games are so close to being good 😆 I respect them as developers, but their stuff barely misses the mark for me. I've tried to play sinking city like 6 times, but it never hooks me. :/ I want to like their games so badly!
This is what happens when you don't respect someone's authoritah!
Hopefully Frogwares owns Naecon after all this. This is base theft in many ways.
If someone ever get in trouble on their game development they should hire this guy
There is a special place in hell for this kind of greed.
Im pretty sure, reguardless of copywrite ownership, authorship must always be recognized.
Feb RU ary
Frogwares is screwed. Innocent or guilty, Knife-fighting with both Focus home and Nacon shows that this developer studio is difficult to deal with, and other publishers aren't going to be interested in working with them.
i seriously hope Nacom in general is forced to break apart and that the offenders get sent to jail. fuck this shit.
reminds me of how insane the snydercult is with their Ray Fischer BS. dude has no recites just empty threats
That's nuts. If what that blog post is 100% true, there is no contract that would allow conditions to be broken. Committing an illegal act in relation to the product is a no-no. Whoever is in charge over there isn't going to be allowed to run a business for a while if found guilty.
Blocked/Blacklisted/Ignored all games by these scummy "publisher"
GGWP - I give up on trying to pause on that frame @18:06 :(
Gotta admit, luck does not exist. Frogware is the only constant in their troubles. I bet we do not know the whole story. Only 1 side has been shown and it is nonsensical.
Heh Na-con am I right?
It doesn't matter how much Nacon contributed to the project. If the contract says that Frogwares is the intellectual owner, Frogwares is the owner. If there is no mention of ownership transferring to Nacon because of the resources provided to Frogwares in the contract, Frogwares is the owner. IF IT DOESN'T SAY NACON'S THE OWNER IN THE CONTRACT, THEY"RE NOT THE OWNER. *THAT'S WHY IT'S A FUCKING CONTRACT.*
Great thing people taking sides....what an idiots
sendem to jail boys
IDK, it looks like Frogwares made an agreement, received money to make a game and then tried to sell the game outside of the agreement instead of sorting their grievances out using proper legal avenues.
In the Xbox store this game is being sold with the Publisher being BigBen, and Frogwares being the Developer. The $75 Deluxe Edition's file size is only 20.18 megabytes. No filesize is being listed for the regular edition of the game.
I never used to look behind the curtains of game development, but in the last 10 years or so the majority of games have been getting so scummy and blatantly boring that I decided to take a look. Everything makes sense now, and I hate it all.
For all my brothers and sisters from MXR, we have a new CRUSADE!!!!! lol :)
And those guys have the rights for the Test Drive Unlimited series, a game I'm really waiting for. Yikes...
Nacon should get blacklisted across the board. If I was Valve I'd just ban them from the store.
I appreciate your work YongYea, I've been watchng and you"ve kelped keep me and others informed about the gaming industry for quite a few years now. I'd just like to say Thank You.
Fastest way of destroying a publishing company. No way they could survive this. Clearly, someone in charge has no idea about legal rights.
Big Ben Interactive survived doing this for years now why do you think they changed their namo into Nacon now
I hate stuff like this. I know this is a little bit different but it pissed me off when Konami got rid of all traces of Kojima Productions on Metal Gear games as well.
Hautekeete = pronounced as 'how-the-kate-a'. Belgian name.
Shit I'd change the price to free so the publisher can't make any money until it's all figured out.
Publishers are the bane of the industry. Developers should always avoid them if at all possible, because invariably the publisher always ends up screwing the developer.
Is this why sinking city isnt getting much needed fixes and optimization?
Where did Frogware meet these Nacon characters? A couple of dirtbags on a street corner pedaling publishing services? This is the most scummy, desperate, thieving behavior I've ever heard of.
Big corporate entities just thinking they are allowed to assume ownership of other people's property for no other reason than they want it. Who's says slavery is dead? Certainly not entitled companies.
I know you're saying nacon but I keep hearing Akon and thinking why is he trying to get involved.
Wow! Nacon, way to go acting like a bunch of little children. Pathetic!
Wait, there's one step you skipped. You said the french courts recently decided on who gets to keep the IP. So did they rule in favor of big ben in that regards?
Well it was fun to see all those posts on Steam defending Nacon and sticking to the court ruling in Nacons favor, which was just a pre-measure to continue to sell the game, before the actual ruling over Nacon breaking their contract several times. They just really wanted to buy the cheap stolen copy which had the DLCs in them which Nacon has no contract over. Everything would be simpler if people just admitted to want to pay a little to have a pirated copy act as official in their steam library.
To be fair Frogwares is very shady developer themselves. Serves them right.
LMFAO......so go to Nacon's site......if you click on any of the listed games from "the world of Nacon games" each one redirect's to the developer's site, or a real game store.....yet they have a cart in the upper left hand corner (I would imagine this is functional for their game accessories section)......
hope frogwares are in the right here and these publishers get punished hard
Hopefully jail time is served for the guilty parties and those that ordered it.
Gotta say I'll never be in the side of the publishers
So basically a load of people with no talent are trying to steal and take credit for other people's work, nothing new then unfortunately.
Very shady indeed.
yeah this is hard evidence, this will resort in serious concequences in the eyes of the french courts. Fuck Nacon
its not on steam anymore. or atleast i cant find it anymore.
99% sure it is the publisher. Why else do all this crap while you are in a legal dispute? Why do people and developers still trust publishers? Publishers are useless!
Nacon is in so much trouble
Without knowing anything about the contract terms, how can you even report on this? It seems slightly premature.
This just goes to show u that u CANNOT get away with anything these days! Everything is digitally archived and recorded in some way. Once DNA testing was invented, it changed the whole ballgame for criminals. And once the internet was invented, it changed the whole ballgame for criminals ONCE AGAIN! While this seems like an open and shut case, u can never trust the court system. No matter what country that court is in. Nonetheless, it seems Frogwares has an air right complaint at this time. Very interesting and very telling of the dirty video gsme industry
And they are getting away with it. Even if they get sued and fined the fine will be not even remotely as much as they have gained from this...
I just started playing the sinking city. I see the issues wit it, but the story is so good, and the detective work is so satisfying. I would 100% recommend for any lovecraft fans, much better than any CoC game so far. All we need now is a Dunwich horror game by bloober team >:)
To me that tells me they have everything to hide, BB & Nacon are shady as HELL.
Listening to this and it's astounding how the list of fuckery keeps getting longer. I'm almost impressed.
As a business and contract law nerd, this is such a huge breach of contract, tort law, and without a doubt qualifies as a "true harm". Business law requires one party to suffer a true harm. In essence business law is about making the parties whole. Punitive fiscal damages can only follow the proof and resolution of the true harm. This is sloppy, asinine, and freaking bush league.
i think its so funny nacon acting like they did so much for them in terms of marketing when i literally have hardly heard of this game (although i do want to play it at some point to support frogboys and bc it looks interesting)
More evil than EA?! Who would have thought....
I agree that it seems like Frogware is the ones that seem to be in the right, but one thing is bugging me...Why is Nacon doing something so stupid and obviously illegal even in the country they are going to court for this? It sounds like the person in charge of that company is either an idiot or insane.
Honestly how is it possible for this unknown publisher to get away with stuff like this? What can we as consumers and gamers do to punish them? Where are the responsible people for this company? When do we get their names and faces and journalists calling their phones asking for comments?? This needs more spotlight!
OK, so Nakon and Big Ben are on my list to NEVER buy a game from, EVER. Thanks for the info.
Nacon sounds like the perfect company to buy the hacked source code for cyberpunk. just saying :P
Aside from de-listing the game what has been Steam's official response to Big Ben/Nacon's actions? After all they tried to make Steam a participant to the theft of intellectual property as Steam makes their money off the sale of each game. If Steam permanently kicks Publishers/Developers off their site for fake reviews, etc shouldn't they do even worse when an actual criminal act is involved?
damn, bullies get bigger and bigger by the day
Definition of “You made this?” ... I made this.”
Sooooo is steam going to.stop publishing this publishers games or what? They shouldn't allow anything from these assholes on their platform.
Hopefully Frogware nails the slimy pricks to the wall for every single penny they stole and then some.
Big tip for true artists: DO NOT WORK WITH ANYONE THAT WANTS YOU TO GIVE UP ANY FRACTION OF CREATIVE CONTROL OVER YOUR ART. Art has been taking a nosedive for decades because business has been seizing majority control over commercialized art. Things won't change until artists take a stand and stop trying to make it "big".
This is one of the shadiest stories I've ever heard lol
And here we thought EA was the scummiest game publisher.
Video game publishers are vampires.
Publishers have no passion other than for money. They're soulless greedy machines that feed on other people's hopes.
I wonder what Legal Eagle would say about this?
The fact this level of actual legit crime happens in broad daylight is proof on how screwed this industry is.
Thank u for covering this! I’ve been watching this unfold for years since I bought TSC at launch and am devastated for them. They didn’t deserve all this and it wasn’t gettin enough coverage for how boldly bb/nacon was doin all this
Game publishers are the worst. Why do we even have these middlemen leaching off of hard working developers now that so many games are digital?
Nacon in big trouble. Sounds like some shit a small Chinese publisher would do.
Devs, courts, and anyone with sense: This isn't yours so leave them alone. Nacon: **writes their name on it** now what? That's basically it just way more illegal.
I'm truly baffled by how gaming companies/publishers act like incompetent fools. They are in a position to create some amazing interactive works with the possibility of making a game that rakes in large amounts of money and prestige, but instead act like petty children. I'm getting sick and tired of seeing great game potential going to waste because of greedy and idiotic gaming moguls. Gaming has gone down the drain and I'm distancing myself more and more from it all.
Huh. Went to mark Nacon as ignored on Steam (closest I can do to blacklisting them) and it turned out I'd already marked it. This must not be the first time they do something scummy enough for me to want to make sure I won't be giving them money...
This whole situation is WILD. I can somewhat understand a publisher wanting to make sure there’s a return on their investment but to just straight pirate a game? That’s next level scumbag shit
I miss the days when hearing about new video games made me excited. Talking with my friends about which one we’re going to buy so we can co-op together now it’s always just “New game... yeah ok I guess.”
Down with publishers! They serve no real purpose nowadays.
This is insane...publisher trying to push the developer into giving them their game through strongarm robbery and/or straight up theft 😂 If you really had a leg to stand on you would wait until it plays out in court, not steal the source code and reupload it c'mon guys be classy jfc
*Nacon:* Fine. We'll put it on Steam ourselves. *Frogwares:* ... _picks up phone_ Hello, Steam? *Nacon:* _angry glare_
Lmao that's fucking terrible! Was interested in The Sinking City and Sherlock but I won't buy it from these publishers.
Thing is, even if Nacon wins the legal battle somehow, no dev will ever want to work with them again. They ain't EA or Activision, they dont have the straight cash to still bring people in.
What is it with guys named "FILIP" and stealing things???
i grow more and more convinced that publishers are the worst way to go with game development
"Frogwares needs to respect the contract" You mean the one that doesn't exist? The one that was terminated months before? And that a court ruled was terminated?
sinking city was a awesome game
Nacon are fucked here. Even if the devs owe a game to the publisher they still had additional content stolen that was made after contract was canceled.
I just wanna mention that if the game was using c++ it isn’t that big of an achievement for that programmer to have edited the code. Unreal games can be easily modified if they use c++ (Granted you have knowledge of the engine)
It's most likely that Steam who stepped in and delisted it on Frogwares behalf. Also take note : there's 2 Sinking City's AppID, one from Frogwares, one from Nacon. For reasons unknown to us, the Nacon version overpowered Frogwares version.