Developer RealAxis will not hand out Steam keys for it’s PC side-scroller Stained to those who purchased the Debut 3 Bundle from Indie Royale despite a key being part of the deal.
Those who purchased the bundle, which served as a way for Greenlight titles on Steam to get noticed, would receive a key once the title was greenlit. Stained was greenlit on May 15 after being on the service for almost a year and a half.
Customers who purchased the Indie Royale bundle can still play the game on Desura, where Stained launched before landing on the Steam Store.
According to the developer, the team decided not to distribute the keys to any further IR bundle purchasers.
“The game is not selling at all and there is no hope,” said one the team members on Steam. “I think we are already doomed so we are abandoning the process of distributing the keys. We will continue to do what is required to make the living and provide support to game related questions twice a week. If you really love this game you should consider buying it on Steam else I think you already had your share of enjoyment when you purchased the game via IR-Bundle for $0.50.”
The developer said it was “completely ready to give the keys via the IR page,” but now it realizes it will be “impossible to provide support given the current sales stat.”
“300 game copies were sold in the first week of release and there is no sale happening after that,” the post continued. “Its pretty much dry. We may sale [sic] few 100 once we go on sale in Christmas but considering the amount of games featuring on Steam we are really not sure if we can win a spot on the front page during sales. Again that will come in pennies.
“Overall we got $1600 form IR bundle, $1500 will come from Steam and that’s all we have earned. There is $400 in the Impulse account but I don’t think we will get that because the payment cut out is $500 and there is no possibility of making another 100 over there. So that’s it we made 3 grand.”
The developer said Steam keys were handed out to participants in a Playfire contest.
“So being generous we went ahead and sent the keys to those owners, when we heard back from the IR bundle, they said there is no way to block the people who already got the keys so we continued sending the keys via email, until now when we realize it would be impossible to provide that sort of support given the current sales stat.”
Again, the game is still playable through Desura, and according to a follow-up reply from the developer, it confirmed with Indie Royale that it was not necessary to distribute Steam keys to bundle owners once the game was released on Steam.
“[They clearly stated ‘its not required, its totally up to you.’If you have got the impression that the keys are confirmed then it was a mistake my friend.”
Stained is currently $7.99 on Steam.
Thanks, reddit.
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