Frogwares now sole publisher of The Sinking City following dispute with Nacon

Ukrainian studio Frogwares is now the sole publisher of Lovecraft-inspired detective adventure The Sinking City. This follows the conclusion of a legal dispute with publisher Nacon, in which Frogwares accused the company of claiming copyright of The Sinking City after its release, withholding milestone payments, and owing the developer unpaid royalties.

The dispute between the two companies saw Frogwares attempting to remove The Sinking City from PC storefront Steam in a bid to sever its ties to Nacon. In February 2021, Frogwares then told people not to buy its game from Steam and the following month it issued The Sinking City with a DMCA takedown. At this time, it claimed Nacon had “illegally” uploaded a hacked version to Valve's platform.

Now, Frogwares is the sole publisher of The Sinking City across all platforms. In a post appropriately shared on Steam, the studio said it was “happy to put this whole thing behind” it, and is now looking forward to “sharing more news about the future of the franchise down the line.”

The studio is planning to release a “new version” of The Sinking City on an unspecified date, although the team said it will be soon.

This version will include all of the latest bug fixes. With that in mind, Frogwares shared the following points for its community to bear in mind when this version ultimately becomes available:

• Due to a number of technical reasons, your old saves won't be compatible with the new version. Don't worry though, when you launch the game, you will have the option to keep playing the old version if you want to finish it.
• We're keeping the old version only for a limited time. Please, consider finishing your playthrough before February 28, 2024!
• We will also release a new DLC, Merciful Madness, but please keep in mind that it will only work with the new version of the game. If you don't want to replay the game from scratch to access the DLC, you will be able to download the prepared saves that will take you straight to the start of the Merciful Madness quests.

The studio closed by thanking the community for its “support and patience” over the last few years.

Frogwares is also behind a collection of Sherlock Holmes games, with its most recent release The Awakened launching last year. During this title's development, the team shared updates highlighting the struggles the Ukrainian studio faced as it worked to finish the game amid Russia's invasion of the country.