Update (October 14th, 2022, 1:03 p.m.): Toge Productions and Mojiken Studio have released a joint statement with PQube Games on Twitter which details that all parties involved have come to an agreement with the release of A Space For The Unbound. Going forward, Chorus Worldwide will handle publishing duties of the console version while Toge Productions will continue to publish the game on PC platforms.
In addition to the news, as a part of the agreement, the statement goes on to clarify that all parties agree that “all grant monies received by PQube were received by Toge Productions” and “PQube has fully supported the return of rights to Toge Productions.” Overall, sounds like good news as both the former publisher and developer have parted ways in a professional manner. I doubt we’ll actually learn what happened behind the scenes of how this was resolved and whatnot but sounds like the creators of the game are moving past this bump in the road with a brand-new publisher.
No clarification on when exactly A Space For The Unbound is launching but the preorder page for the physical PS5 and Nintendo Switch versions of the game recently opened up in Japan and hinted at a January 19th 2023 release date. As far as an official announcement, Toge Productions and Chorus Worldwide have stated that A Space For The Unbound‘s release plans “will be announced shortly.”
— A Space for the Unbound 📕💫 (@ASFTUgame) October 14, 2022
Original Story:
Indonesian-based developers Toge Productions and Mojiken Studio have announced that it’s delaying their upcoming artistic pixel art game, A Space for the Unbound indefinitely on consoles “until further notice.” Both developers released a joint Twitter statement accusing its console publisher, PQube Games of withholding information and allegedly using their Indonesian heritage to earn funds from a diversity grant awarded to the studios from a “big name publisher.” They add that the funds did not go toward them or development but instead PQube Games used the money to increase their company’s own revenue which the makers of A Space for the Unbound found out about back in March.
We have important news to share with you. pic.twitter.com/O5od8fCp4y
— A Space for the Unbound 📕💫 (@ASFTUgame) August 24, 2022
“At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in August 2020, PQube Games used our position and heritage as developers from Indonesia to obtain a diversity fund from a well know console platform. The diversity fund was a grant fund intended to help underrepresented game developers, especially during the pandemic,” Toge Productions and Mojiken Studio said in a joint statement.
“However, instead of giving those funds to the developers as the grant was intended, PQube Games intentionally withheld information about the grant and used it as leverage for their own commercial gain. Rather than paying the grant money to us, PQube Games hid the facts about the grant’s award and added it as a recoupable minimum guarantee and then used it to negotiate the increase of their revenue share.”
The A Space for the Unbound developers adds they were “heartbroken” when they first learned the behind the scenes dealings but came to the conclusion that PQube Games can not be trusted or will they continue to work with the UK publisher and have announced that they terminated their agreement with the company. In response, in a comment to IGN PQube denies these allegations and says it has fully honoured its publishing agreement and that the A Space for the Unbound developers is attempting to rewrite the rules by enforcing “unreasonable revised terms.”
