What? My inconsistencies I mentioned are still perfectly valid? I'm talking about his inconsistencies throughout the development stages.
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He claimed free indefinite updates of the game. September 28, 2024: “If you bought the game once, you won’t need to buy it again. You will always have access to all future updates.” and May 21, 2024: “Remember that if you already bought the game, you DO NOT need to purchase it again. The game is bought once, and you will always have access to all future files I upload.” To then "re-release" the game and call it a different game.
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He claimed he wanted to give free Steam keys. Said he cannot give free Steam keys because he was limited to 100 Steam keys (which is perfectly reasonable if it's valid). However, if he was set on giving Steam keys for free, that means he had the intention of giving the Steam update for free. If that was the case, he could have achieved this goal by simply updating the itch.io version.
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He then, in replies, started saying, "I just made another game, the game on itch was finished long ago," making it clear he never planned to give the Steam version for free. His own words in the screenshot confirm this.
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He promised free refunds and then said he can't because of the 90-day limit (again, this is completely fair. He should have really done research before this. With all the backlash, you’d think he’d do extensive research before making any promises he might not be able to keep).
The game being "finished on itch.io" doesn't mean he couldn't simply release a separate downloadable file that was the Steam version if he again claimed he wanted to give the Steam version away for free for original backers.
He clearly was working on the Steam version for a while. Why not tell everyone, "Ok, guys. This itch.io version is done! I am making a Steam version of the game that is a remake. That remake will not be given to itch.io users because it is a new version of the game"? This may have gotten a tiny bit of backlash. However, nowhere near the backlash he got with all these hiccups. At the end of the day, a fanbase wants to feel like there is honesty and communication between them and the developer. When a new Steam game is released and then told, "You guys aren't getting it because it's a separate game" (and yes, this is basically what he's saying because again he'd just add the files on itch.io for original backers), it's going to leave a sour taste in people's mouths. That’s just how it is. Even more so when fans are expecting updates to the game because they haven’t been informed it is finished. Again, if he was working on the Steam version, he could, in the latest update to the itch.io version, just tell the fans that there will be no more updates to the game because he's remaking it for Steam with new features.
He is a solo developer, so I’m not putting him in the same leagues as a greedy corporate company. However, to say you will give indefinite free updates, then give the game a facelift for a Steam release and claim it's a new game isn’t exactly keeping to that narrative.
A part of development of the game can be re-working it from the ground up. That's very common in the gaming industry, from small indie games (like Risk of Rain (Remastered), Spelunky (HD), and Fez) to triple-A games. That doesn't warrant a re-purchase of the game when updates were promised for free and no prior warning was made to say the itch.io version of the game was complete.


