Starsand Island, the charming new "carefree" take on Stardew Valley from Chinese developer Seed Sparkle Lab, is no longer available to purchase on Steam following its creators' use of "visual elements" from another game without permission.
Eagle-eyed fans noted that it had been taken off Valve's platform yesterday, with posts online circulating with questions regarding why it wasn't up on Steam anymore. Now, it seems we've got an answer from Seed Sparkle Lab itself.
In its announcement on the matter, the studio explains it's "due to an oversight during the planning phase," as "certain core visual elements from a classic title were used without proper authorization within our mini-game section."
The developer continues, writing, "We sincerely apologize for this mistake," before outlining its next steps. "The Starsand Island Steam store page has been temporarily delisted. We have already submitted a new game build – with the unauthorized content removed – to Steam for review. Once the review is complete, the game will be available for purchase and download again."
That's a relief – after all, Starsand Island only just launched in February.
Starsand Island Steampage disappeared from the Steamstore? from r/Starsandisland
That's not all, though. "To express our deepest regrets," Seed Sparkle Lab says it'll "be providing the 'Shining Star' Outfit Set to all Islanders" as free DLC. Furthermore, we don't have to worry about our saves corrupting or no longer working, as all previous progress "will be fully preserved."
The dev concludes that it's "already begun strengthening our internal review and auditing processes to ensure that such an incident never occurs again," too.
Here's hoping it all works out, then. As for what the supposed "classic title" Seed Sparkle Lab took from without permission is, there's a lot of chatter implying it could be Tetris. There's no confirmation from the dev or Valve on this, however, so do take it with a grain of salt.
Either way, I'm honestly surprised by the debacle in general – Starsand Island did release to a 91% positive rating after only a day in Early Access. It did suffer accusations of fake reviews initially, but still...
I suppose nobody and nothing is immune to moments like this, but it's always sad when it strikes in the cozy gaming community – a usually wholesome space that's not exactly a prime area for controversy or drama… at least in my opinion.
Looking for something else to wishlist? Be sure to browse our roundup of the best new games coming this year and beyond for even more to anticipate.
