Have you heard of indie RPG Guardians of Arcadia? Ironically, you may only have heard about the game due to a growing controversy, fueled by a fan campaign telling gamers not to buy the game. However, all is not what it seems.
First, a few words about Guardians of Arcadia as a game. Developer Fabula Epica pitches it as a throwback JRPG, with enemies that jump in on you, turn based combat, and a system that allows you to control the battle rate. The game is planned for PC, across Windows, Mac, and Linux, as well as mobile platforms Android, Windows Phone, and iOS.
Among the game’s credits is character designer Monica G. Cabral. Unfortunately, Monica revealed, in a now viral Tumblr post, that she has not been paid for some of the art she made for the game. She was working on the game on and off due to school, and occasionally pressured to jump back into it.
Monica has several logs and evidence showing her contact with the game’s creator, David Andrade. In the most general terms, she alleges she had been blackmailed to keep working on the game, and also that David has lied when asked about the issue on the game’s Steam page.
There was a series of back and forth between the two in the past few days Thankfully, the issue seems close to resolving, based on this most recent update. Monica explains that she has been part of negotiations involving herself, David, and other artists, and the negotiations ended well. They are still busy drawing up contracts, and double checking all details, but Monica promises to update again when everything has been officially settled.
Unfortunately, the issue remains raw, as the game’s Steam Greenlight page shows. While the project still waits for Greenlight approval, there is a note of a DMCA takedown filed on the game.
For the record, Monica does not address this DMCA in her posts, so this may have come from a completely different entity, or stems from different circumstances.
In either case, if you are on the fence on this game, I personally suggest you wait for future updates from the developer and the artists. Either way, you definitely need to stop sharing that viral Tumblr post, as it is complicating matters for everyone involved.
