Earlier this month, the farming and life simulator Roots of Pacha was pulled from Steam due to a dispute between developer Soda Den and game publisher Crytivo. Soda Den claimed that Crytivo had asked Valve to remove the game from the platform without their knowledge, and Crytivo claimed that Soda Den had attempted to void a contract the two had been working on over the past three years. Thankfully, the two have now come to an agreement.
In a statement posted on the game’s official Twitter account, it explains that the team at Soda Den and Crytivo “worked tirelessly” to bring the game back on Steam. They explained that they reached a mutual agreement about the rights to the game, allowing it to be made available on Steam once again. Soda Den also revealed that it has decided to “part ways amicably” with Crytivo on mutually beneficial terms. That means Soda Den is now listed as the sole publisher of the game.
“Over the past two weeks, Crytivo and Soda Den have worked tirelessly towards the common goal of restoring Roots of Pacha on Steam.” “We’ve reached an agreement and we’re happy to share that Roots of Pacha has been restored to Steam for everyone to buy.”
“We would also like to share that Crytivo and Soda Den have decided to part ways amicably under mutually beneficial terms. Soda Den sincerely thanks the Crytivo team for their efforts in supporting and marketing Roots of Pacha. Crytivo We sincerely thank Soda Den for their dedication and skill that went into making Roots of Pacha.”
Anything that ends well in the end is good, but I think this situation could have been completely avoided if the communication between the developer and the publisher had been a little better. The first few weeks of a game’s launch are arguably the most critical to ensure success, especially for a smaller indie title like Roots of Pacha. Hopefully, the fact that you won’t be able to buy it for a reasonable period of time won’t have a huge impact on the platform’s gaming performance.
As for being left out of the game listing, Xbox is reportedly doing its best to combat the “easy Gamerscore” titles plaguing stores. The update made on May 1st is believed to have implemented a ban on these kinds of titles, as players used them to farm Gamerscore for Xbox Game Pass quests and Microsoft Rewards.