Coral Island developer blames Humble Games layoffs for leaving Switch port "in a place of uncertainty"
"We know it f*cking sucks but we hope you understand."
Coral Island developer Stairway Games has responded to the lack of Switch port, blaming the recent layoffs at Humble Games for leaving console versions "in a place of uncertainty".
The cosy life-sim game received over $1.6m in Kickstarter funding. However, some backers who specifically backed the game for a Switch version are angry at the lack of news for a port. Other backers have claimed requests for PS4 keys have been automatically upgraded to PS5 without consent.
At present, the game is available on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S (plus Game Pass), but not Switch.
Comments from backers have been shared on social media, describing the situation as "super gross". "At this point, I just want my money back," wrote one backer. "I can't get what I paid for, so I'd like to be refunded."
Now, Stairway Games has released a statement addressing the situation, claiming "the impact of Humble Games' restructuring on Coral Island remains uncertain for all things related to consoles... as they are responsible for these platforms".
"To start, we share in your frustrations regarding the lack of a Nintendo Switch port of Coral Island," the statement reads. "Over the years, there's a lot we've wanted to say in the spirit of transparency, about many different things, but continue to be unable to do so because of the publishing agreement and NDA we have in place.
"The impact of Humble Games' restructuring on Coral Island remains uncertain for all things related to consoles, whether porting or pushing hotfixes, as they are responsible for these platforms. We've been in communication with our lawyer since we found out about the restructuring on social media to figure out how to navigate this new situation.
"For example, we have an upcoming hotfix for the 1.1 update nearing release for Steam. We have no idea how to get this update out to other platform players as we don't have the backend permission on console platforms to push updates out. We only have access to the Steam backend."
As a result, Switch backers are now being offered a key change to Steam, effective immediately, by emailing the developer: contact@stairwaygames.com. However, this doesn't account for the fact some backers may not have a suitable PC to play the game.
"We'll keep you posted on developments once we have more information," the statement concludes. "We know it fucking sucks but we hope you understand."
It should be noted, though, the Humble Games layoffs occurred just earlier this week. The Coral Island Kickstarter was launched in 2021 and the game released out of early access in November 2023.
Until now, the only comment for Switch backers on Kickstarter was: "We're still in the game development process and going strong. We don't have any updates to share yet, but we'll keep you informed as soon as we have more to share."
The tropical island farming sim launched into early access in October 2022 after its successful Kickstarter campaign. Since then, it's received plenty of updates adding new content, including its 1.1 "Story Finale: Land & Sea" update this week.
It's considered a major competitor to Stardew Valley, whose solo developer earlier this week stated he would "never" charge money for a DLC or update "for as long as I live".