Lovecraftian horror game The Sinking City is back on Steam nearly four years after a huge publishing dispute

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Frogwares has finally retained full rights to the original game

The Sinking City
(Image credit: Frogwares)

Lovecraftian horror game The Sinking City is now back on PC storefronts following a dispute with its original distributor.

The Sinking City was originally delisted from all PC and console storefronts back in August 2020, when developer Frogwares terminated its contract with publisher Nacon. This was allegedly over a lack of payment and violation of the intellectual property, the developer claimed at the time.

The following year, Nacon republished a version of The Sinking City on Steam and PS4/Xbox One storefronts in February 2021, which was denounced by Frogwares. Nacon claimed to have met the financial stipulations of the original publishing agreement, while Nacon claimed the new version of the game had been "hacked" from the developer itself.

In response, Frogwares issued a DMCA takedown against Nacon's version of The Sinking City, and it was delisted from Steam once again in March 2021. Nearly three years later in January 2024, Frogwares announced earlier this month that it had become the "sole" publisher of The Sinking City at long last, retaining full rights to the original game.

"We're happy to put this whole thing behind us, and we look forward to sharing more news about the future of the franchise very soon," the Frogwares statement below reads. Unfortunately, you won't be able to use your old PC saves with the new version of The Sinking City.

The Sinking City was finally republished to Steam, GOG, and Gamesplanet yesterday, January 16, and it'll be on the Epic Games Store "soon." Additionally, the new version comes with bug fixes and optimizations, and all players will get DLC from the Necronomicon and Deluxe editions for free. However, there's been no statement from Frogwares on whether The Sinking City will be republished on console platforms like PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Whatever the case, it seems like Frogwares will be updating us with more information on the series "very soon." Frogwares could already have plans to republish The Sinking City on console storefronts, or even be cooking up another entry in their Lovecraftian horror series.

Read up on our new games 2024 guide for a look at all the games we've got to look forward to throughout the year. 

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer
Freelance Writer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.