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Early Access title Under the Ocean has been removed from Steam after its programmer abandoned the project, leaving just one developer struggling to complete the game.
Programmer Michael Reitzenstein quit the game after differences in opinion about the future direction” with co-maker Paul Hart. Hart subsequently asked Steam to remove the title, although he has vowed to press on with development and re-release the title once it is in a state he is happy with.
So this has been quite a while coming it seems, progress has been crawling of late (as you well have might noticed) since we ran out of money at the end of last year, will cut to the chase,” Hart wrote.
So where does this leave the project without a programmer? Well, it leaves just me left, out of money and maybe against better judgement and out of sheer stubbornness, I am not quitting, I will not declare this project dead. I don’t care how long this takes, I don’t care how hard, I WILL finish this project, by myself if that’s what it takes. I made a promise to finish this project and that is exactly what I plan to do, against all odds.
This news will obviously come as a huge blow to everyone awaiting Alpha 9, as it means what we know as Alpha 9 today will have to be shelved and completely rebuild with my (limited) programming ability. As far as refunds, as I mentioned before I don’t have enough money to pay them at the moment, so when/if sales start to happen again, I can start offering them again, but right now refunds are coming out of my (non existent) bank balance, I may need to work part-time to keep the dream alive, but more importantly feed my son.”
The decision is in stark contrast to something like Towns. When its developers abandoned the game last summer they simply put a full stop on their work and gave the game a full release as was, despite the omission of several features that had been long promised to early buyers.
Hart estimates that a full release for Under the Ocean could easily be years away.
