The upcoming SF MMORPG Project Genom has disappeared from Steam. A programmer is said to be responsible, having extorted and defrauded the developers.
Unusual post from the developers of “Project Genom”: a tremendous press release is making the rounds. Allegedly, they are being extorted by an employee. This has now led to serious consequences: Project Genom is no longer listed on Steam.
The culprit is said to have sent Valve a nasty letter, which led to the exclusion of “Project Genom”.
Currently, we only know the version of the story told by the developers. It paints an unflattering picture of the alleged villain. And Team NeuronHaze is violating a “typical rule” that applies everywhere on the internet: No names, don’t name and shame.
Collecting money, working little, and then extortion
The employee is accused of several things:
- He is said to have earned $1,600 a month while the rest of the team received less or nothing at all.
- The programmer is said to have not worked because he urgently needed to repair his house. The team raised $3,800 so that he could have his house repaired by contractors and continue working on the code.
- However, he did not do that; instead, he essentially did nothing, so they had to hire programmers.
- Upon the release on Steam, he began to extort the team: if he did not receive 10% of the proceeds, he would write a complaint to Valve and ensure that the game disappeared from Steam.
- Team NeuronHaze then agreed to pay him $23,600 by the end of 2016 – but the programmer never signed this agreement.
- They themselves did nothing wrong, did not violate the agreement, and were still informed on November 22 that they would disappear from Steam.
Warning about the programmer
The Project Genom team calls the programmer a fraud, wants to sue him, and warns against collaborating with him. They want to continue working on the project and get it back on Steam as quickly as possible. They apologize to everyone who is currently trying to buy Project Genom on Steam: that’s not possible at the moment. However, those who have purchased it on Steam can continue to play it.
Serious accusations. Keep in mind: We currently only know one side of the story.
Project Genom: Level organs or rather become a cyborg?
Update 24.11.: The drama is entering its second round. The programmer is presenting his side of the story. And there is an unexpected outcome regarding the Steam issue:
Project Genom: Young developer team earns $230,000; chaos and drama follow
