PlayStation: The Horrible Truth Behind ‘Aeon Must Die!’

We can’t wait until the PlayStation 5 hits the stores and we witness the revolutionization of the gaming experience. The recent PlayStation event, State of Play, showcased a host of interesting new titles. Although there was no new news about the console itself, we got a good look at what’s in store for us. We have the Crash Bandicoot 4, Hitman 3, Bugsnax, Star Wars: Vader Immortal, only to name a few of the array of impressive games lined up.

But there has been quite the controversy regarding one of the games showcased at the event. The game ‘Aeon Must Die!‘ is basically a beat ’em up game that brings a lot more to the genre. According to the devs themselves, “The ruthless, grim but colorful world looks and feels like that ridiculous action-packed anime VHS tape your parents heavily disapproved of”. 

The game has a lot of potential and is likely to turn out great. But there is an issue currently in the public eye regarding the studio behind the game.

Aeon Must Die!: A PlayStation game “created with abuse, manipulation, theft”?

This is, undoubtedly, a shocking thing. So let’s get to what the controversy is all about. The issue is between the developers of the game and the studio ‘Limestone Games’. The phrase you see in quotes above appears on the description of the trailer, uploaded by a third-party YouTube channel.

The description also includes a dropbox link to various allegations and testimonials by the developers working against Limestone Games. In addition to this, it also contains a statement from the (now former) Chief Creative Officer of the studio, Aleksei Nehoroshkin.

The allegations against Limestone Games are as follows:

• The CEO of the Studio, Yaroslav Lyssenko failed to pay the artists associated with the game.
• The Studio subjected the devs to insane amounts of overtime work, including other forms of abuse.
• Nehoroshkin has accused Lyssenko of planning to get other investors to take over the complete control of Limestone and its intellectual property.
• The software the studio uses are allegedly pirated.

• Nehoroshkin has accused Lyssenko of tricking him into signing away his rights, ownership, and his representation on the Studio’s board of directors.
• Lyssenko allegedly reduced the worker’s salaries on the books and paid extra cash off the books to evade taxes.

And these are just some of the allegations the devs have made against the studio. The dropbox link given above has detailed accounts by those who quit Limestone.

Focus Home Interactive: trying to right the wrongs (?)

The devs tried reaching out to the publishing firm of the game, i.e. Focus Home Interactive (FHI), for justice against this exploitation. Apparently, their pleas were not heard by FHI and according to them, they were even diverted back to Lyssenko at times. However, FHI recently issued a statement on its Twitter handle regarding this issue.

We do not know for certain if the statement is an attempt to calm the turmoil on FHI’s part now that people have accused them of being an enabler in the case. Without proper evidence, it will be unfair to assume something like this. However, on the other hand, to see the ones behind this beautiful game not being rewarded their due justice is unfair as well.

We are yet to see the turn this situation takes, but we do hope that justice is served.

Source: FHI twitter