Update: Shortly after The Sinking City resumed sales on Steam, it was suspended again: sales have resumed on Steam; it appears that it is still not available on GOG, but it has been relisted and is available for purchase on the Microsoft Store.

In an email, Nacon explained that the "online stakes" referred to in the initial statement did not refer to in-game content, but to the distribution platform. The publisher stated that it is Frogware's responsibility to return the game to at least some of the storefronts in question and that it has no control over the timing of the return.

It is unclear why "The Sinking City" reappeared on Steam and then was removed again; we have emailed Frogwares for more information and will update if we hear back.

Original story:

The Sinking City is Sherlock Holmes via HP Lovecraft: a 1920s detective game set in a flooded and dilapidated fishing town built on a cave full of otherworldly horrors and madness. An "occasionally entertaining detective game ruined by lousy writing, rote combat, and a tedious open world" sums up the 2019 review, which unexpectedly resurfaced a year later when it suddenly disappeared from most digital storefronts.

In August 2020, developer Frogwares released a statement saying the removal was the result of an ugly dispute with publisher Nacon (formerly Bigben Interactive); Frogwares withheld funding promised by Nacon during development and, post-release In its response, Nacon "emphatically" denied the claims, and Frogwares said in its public statement that it was "attempting to discredit Nacon in the eyes of the public and experts."

The whole thing is being sorted out in the French courts, and although that process has not yet been resolved, Nacon issued a statement today claiming a provisional victory: the court ruled that Frogwares had terminated the contract in a "manifestly illegal" manner, and thus "as a precautionary measure (...) . ordered the Agreement to continue until the term of the Agreement or until a determination is made as to the breach of the Agreement, ordered Frogwares Ireland to refrain from taking any action with respect to the breach of the Agreement, ordered Frogwares Ireland to refrain from taking any action to prevent the continuation of the Agreement, ordered Frogwares Ireland to refrain from taking any action to prevent the continuation of the Agreement, and

As a result of this ruling, "The Sinking City" and its various DLCs have now been returned to Steam. Interestingly, although very vaguely worded, Nacon suggested that some elements of the game may be missing or incomplete, and "insofar as some of the online stakes of the game rely on Frogwares' good will to perform, those omissions are not attributable to Nacon."

(Another interesting point that some fans have noticed is that "The Sinking City" is currently on half price sale on Origin, where it has remained available for purchase all along, while the Steam re-release has a regular price of $50)

Since The Sinking City is a single-player investigative adventure game, it is not clear what "online interests" Nacon is referring to; it could be an aspect of the DLC feature (bonus quests, cosmetics, and other in-game items can all be purchased separately), or it could be nothing more than a generic "it's not our responsibility" canned statement We emailed Nacon for more information and also asked Frogwares for comment.