Interwave Studios is now the target of controversy due to their recently released 2.5D survival horror game “Dark Matter”. The game appeared on Steam a few days ago for 14 euros, but users reported that the game abruptly ends after four and a half hours and the “ending” consists of a single screen of text.
A developer by the name of “Viper” responded, saying: “No, the full story is indeed not complete yet because originally we wanted a longer game (12-16 hours) but couldnt finish it completely due to time and money (and Kickstarter failing). So, we choose to go with a 6-8 hour game instead to bring something out to the world and show everyone the world of Dark Matter. We are going to change the ‘to be continued’ text to something else, to make sure this will be the end of the game as is in a clear msg to everyone.” In a later post, Viper once again confirmed that this was indeed the end of the game and there would be no further content for it.
Another developer by the name of “Silverfell” added to this by admitting the studio simply ran out of money and had to make some drastic decisions, leading to bugs being ignored, the tutorial not being reworked and the lack of a final cinematic. He also revealed that Interwave was forced to dismiss most of its employees, leaving the studio manned by only two men.
It’s hard to be mad at a studio that recently had to throw out all of its employees, but stumbling upon hardship and then deciding to just throw whatever you have on Steam is baffling to me. To then go on stage and say that “Those were not hard choices to make.” shows a lack of passion for your own creation. I really hope Interwave will reconsider their stance and use this as an Early Access kind of thing, using the funds they got from sales to finish what, in all honestly, looks like a pretty fun horror game.
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