Skullgirls patches in the clear after co-publishers terminate relationship

There is light at the end of the tunnel for patches to fighting game Skullgirls.

Co-publishers Autumn Games and Konami have, as developer Lab Zero Games described it, "terminated their business relationship".

"As it's been alluded to in the past, things have not always been hunky-dory between Autumn Games and Konami," Lab Zero Games' Peter Bartholow wrote on Skullgirls' IndieGoGo page.

"Around the time of the last update, it became clear that it would not be possible to proceed with the new patches as long as Konami was involved with Skullgirls.

"So, as of today, Autumn and Konami have terminated their business relationship, allowing us to move forward with the PS3 and Xbox 360 patch in a more timely and cost-effective manner."

In a previous update on the Skullgirls IndieGoGo page, Bartholow hinted at the trouble the developer has had working with Konami on patches.

"We need Konami to help us out some with some things in order to do some Microsoft TRC checks, and thus far they have been completely unresponsive," he wrote in a post published a month ago. "Feel free to use this information however you see fit."

While the door is open for Skullgirls patches, the game needs a new publisher to push them through. Autumn Games will be the new publisher of Skullgirls on the PlayStation Store. "We expect this transition to happen pretty quickly as Autumn Games has already taken the first steps to making it happen," Bartholow said.

However, on Xbox 360 Microsoft does not support purely digital publishers - a policy that has affected more than a few developers down the years.

So, Autumn is working with MarvelousAQL to secure a replacement XBLA publishing slot. "This is an essential step, because without this Microsoft would simply delist the game from the Marketplace," Bartholow explained.

The PS3 version of the patch will be out before the Xbox 360 version, Bartholow confirmed, "but Xbox 360 owners shouldn't worry - the delay between the two shouldn't be anything like that with the previous patch, now that we have the format of the patching mastered."

"We apologise that these deep business dealings have come between you and the first character your collective efforts have funded, but we're confident that subsequent patches will go more smoothly with this all of this behind us," Bartholow concluded.