Publisher Nacon Cracked and Pirated Our Game: The Sinking City
I hadn&#x27;t heard of this before, so maybe I am missing some context here, but something seems fishy:<p>&gt; Steam is one of the listed platforms of commercialization in the contract between Frogwares and Nacon. But since the release of the game, Nacon’s unlawful actions have forced Frogwares to defend its property and react in front of the French Justice for lack of payments, attempts to steal our IPs, etc which we made a public letter about back in August 2020.<p>Here&#x27;s the previous statement from Nacon:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;store.steampowered.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;app&#x2F;750130&#x2F;view&#x2F;3058478454630446188" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;store.steampowered.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;app&#x2F;750130&#x2F;view&#x2F;30584784...</a><p>I can&#x27;t find any of the details about Nacon&#x27;s unlawful actions, and it seems Frogware is being intentionally vague. Doing some digging, it seems like this is almost a complete retread of a legal battle they had before:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twinfinite.net&#x2F;2019&#x2F;09&#x2F;frogwares-games-delisted-alleged-dispute-focus-home-interactive&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twinfinite.net&#x2F;2019&#x2F;09&#x2F;frogwares-games-delisted-alle...</a><p>It seems like they may have a history of playing a copyright game with publishers - take their money to develop a game, then use legal trickery to take back the property outright.<p>In this case Nacon may have felt they had a &quot;mechanic&#x27;s lien&quot; on the code and felt justified stealing it back outright (probably a bad choice in the long run). But regardless, I don&#x27;t get the sense that Frogwares is completely being on the up and up about the relationship with their exes.<p><i>Update</i>: Frogwares has a much more detailed list of grievances here: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;frogwares.com&#x2F;the-sinking-city-is-being-delisted-heres-why&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;frogwares.com&#x2F;the-sinking-city-is-being-delisted-her...</a> Some seem petty and some seem serious. But it still leaves questions. How much did Nacon already pay Frogwares? Does Frogwares plan on paying it back?<p>&gt; The agreement is, therefore, terminated without further formality. Moreover, on July 17, 2020, Nacon attempted to oppose the termination in court, but the judge rejected the demand, and the contract is now terminated in the eyes of the law.<p>Maybe French law is much weirder than ours, but this phrasing would be highly suspect in the US. You would get a really affirmative ruling that you are still bound by contract or not.