The Czech-Ukrainian studio Dreamate has released the role-playing game New Arc Line in Steam Early Access. It's a big, interesting, and really good steampunk RPG, but there's one caveat: the project's publisher is Fulqrum Publishing, also known as the renamed Russian 1C Entertainment.
In addition, the studio also managed to get into a scandal. According to GameDev DOU, at first, the studio was building up, rented an office in the center of Kyiv, organized a bar for employees, purchased equipment, paid for health insurance, but in the summer of 2022, investments stopped and the company began to delay salary payments. And the problem with financing was solved by Fulqrum.
The studio also faced difficulties with the division of management. One of the directors started interfering in the work on sound design and animation. In the middle of development, he tried to change the concept of the game to a third-person RPG instead of isometrics.
"Arguments that this requires not just a camera change, but other approaches to design and other budgets were rejected," GameDev DOU writes.
The publication also reports that the studio's creative director spoke about the "toxic Ukrainian community."
However, despite all the troubles, Dreamate managed to get New Arc Line released in Early Access. But it is up to players to decide whether to give this game a chance.