Anyone who bought indie sci-fi action game Dark Matter on Steam or GOG last week has probably realized that the game ends on too-good of a cliffhanger. After five or so hours, players walk into a room, and an abrupt message pops up telling them that's it.
The exact words are "The mag-lock door slams closed behind [your character], locking away the Engineering section, and her dreams of rescue," according to PC Gamer. Fans are more than a little miffed.
Erik Schreuder, the chief executive officer of publisher Iceberg Interactive, said that the idea was for the series to become episodic, with each subsequent episode depending on the success of the previous one. But the Kickstarter failed, and there went funding. The bigger problem now is that gamers were never clued in to that intent.
As a result, GOG has taken the game down entirely and is offering customers full refunds.
"We would like to stress that the game is exactly as described on Steam (including that it contains 14 levels) — it is simply not true that the game is unfinished, or unplayable," wrote Schreuder. "Some people have misquoted the developer as having admitted that the game is incomplete; we should reiterate that what was meant was that this is not the $30 full-priced game, but the episodic budget version (currently selling at $13,49 at 10% off)."
He continued, "It is true however, that at present, the end of the game may cause confusion and is not satisfactory. We sincerely apologize for this, as it is not of the standard we would expect. We are working to offer a more conclusive and satisfying ending to the game as we speak and expect a fix to appear as soon we are able to."
The game is still up on Steam, but in place of the purchase option is a notice that reads, "Currently there is a known issue at the end of the game. The developer is aware of the issue and they are working on a patch as a solution."
Source: Gameranx
