There is big drama surrounding the SF-MMORPG Project Genom after a success. This led to a Steam ban.
Yesterday we reported on Project Genom. The Russian development team felt extorted and cheated by a programmer. This culminated in a ban from Steam – Project Genom could still be played on Valve’s platform, but could no longer be purchased.
Programmer says: I had burnout
The programmer, who was accused of so much wrongdoing, has now expressed his own perspective on reddit. There, everything is quite different. He claims he worked like crazy, was the only programmer for an MMO – an insane task. He felt overwhelmed, nearing burnout, wanted to quit, but the team begged him to stay. Then he dragged himself along for a few more months and ultimately threw in the towel with an announcement.
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The team then allegedly tried to cheat him out of his “deserved salary”. In early access on Steam, Project Genom had earned over $230,000. He says he was supposed to get none of it. The accusation: he had worked too little. But, according to his logic, the code was entirely his: And how could it be bad when Project Genom had made so much money on Steam?
The programmer did not accept this. He then learned that he, as a programmer, was also the owner of the code from Valve’s perspective. He then filed a complaint with Steam, he writes on reddit.
With the money also came the drama to Project Genom
This is the short version. In detail, everything is much more obscure and confusing, with recorded conversations, promises, and a lot of drama. The head of the development team is also described as an “exalted personality” in the programmer’s account.
From an outside perspective, it all seems “personal” and like internal matters that shouldn’t be made public. The impression also arises that professionalism has been lacking.
The programmer reflects: You can think I’m an idiot for not having made a contract. But he was still young and inexperienced. They had just worked along without anyone expecting such a success, as he writes. No one thought about contracts.
End of the story: All good again, back on Steam and move along, nothing to see here
Currently, there is another press release from the team around Project Genom, from NeronHaze: The problems are solved. They will soon be able to sell the game on Steam again. They can fully continue developing the game. According to a report from pcgamesn, however, the parties involved have signed a confidentiality agreement and cannot disclose further details.
Well, here we stand affected. Curtains down and all questions open. This is from Brecht, I think. He was a dramatist – maybe he would have enjoyed the Russian indie farce surrounding Project Genom.
The first part of the drama surrounding Project Genom, the perspective of the development team, you can read here:
