GOG backtracks bizarre decision not to sell Heaven's Vault
Lost in translation.
Heaven's Vault, the excellent adventure game from 80 Days developer Inkle, is now finally available via GOG.
Unlike Steam, where Heaven's Vault launched on 16th April, GOG is a curated store - so not every game which applies to it gets accepted.
But the reasons why it got declined - despite positive reviews and feedback from players - have always remained a bit of mystery.
"We can't get into specifics, but they gave reasons stemming from their experience playing an early build of the game and what they think their audience wants," Inkle co-founder Joe Humfrey told PCGamer back in May.
"Which was definitely disappointing - we had been hoping that GOG's adventure game audience would embrace Heaven's Vault, and reaching that audience can make a huge difference to whether or not small studios like ours survive."
Inkle's previous game 80 Days got listed on GOG without incident.
Heaven's Vault casts players as archaeologist Aliya Elasra, who must search for missing Professor Janniqi Renba while discussing and translating ancient hieroglyphic texts.
"The whole thing's as intricate and inter-connected, perhaps, as one of the tiled abstract patterns that decorate the walls and doorways of the game's Middle-Eastern and North-African-inspired environments," Christian Donlan wrote, recommending the game in Eurogamer's Heaven's Vault review.
GOG, which is owned by Polish games company CD Projekt, had this to say today:
"With Heaven's Vault we've changed our mind after checking the final game, how it was perceived by gamers, and receiving numerous requests from our users suggesting to release it," GOG told PCGamer.
"We then reached out to the developers with a proposal to release their game on GOG simply because we believe that its high quality and unique character deserves to be recognised and shared with our audience."