Yesterday, we learned that Skybound Entertainment had canceled its contract with Starbreeze, effectively killing off Overkill's The Walking Dead and putting an end to development on console versions for the game. The PC version has now been removed from Steam, with Starbreeze responding to the situation with its own statement.
Skybound Entertainment is the rights holder for The Walking Dead and sold license to Starbreeze several years ago. Unfortunately, Overkill's The Walking Dead went through a turbulent development cycle and ended up launching to mixed reviews. Skybound said that the game did not meet the quality level promised, so that license is now being revoked and development on future console versions has been stopped.
Starbreeze has now released a statement of its own, saying: “Skybound, the license holder of OVERKILL’s The Waling Dead, has filed a license related complaint with the main digital distribution platform for the Starbreeze game OVERKILL’s The Walking Dead. As a consequence, the product is expected to be removed from new purchases on Steam within a near future.”
The game is no longer available to buy on Steam. Starbreeze's acting CEO, Mikael Nermark, added that the publisher is “deeply sorry for the issues this may cause” to those who have already brought the game and are expecting more DLC. Right now, Starbreeze is in discussions with Skybound to finish off work on Season 2 DLC, if all goes well, this content will be made available to those who already purchased it.
KitGuru Says: Starbreeze really needed this game to succeed, especially given how expensive the license was in the first place. Unfortunately, it looks like this game won't be getting a second chance. Did any of you happen to pick this one up before it was removed from sale?