When a farming game is announced, fans of cozy titles like Stardew Valley emerge from their pixel villages to learn more. An indie game called Roots of Pacha received that response from the public, with players impatiently waiting to tend to prehistoric crops and populations. Unfortunately, the game’s highly anticipated release was followed by its swift remove from the Steam storefront. Both the Roots of Pacha developer and publisher have now shared their respective takes on the unexpected situation.
If you like to water in-game plants as much as I do, chances are you have you encountered Roots of Pacha in some way online. Whether that be through the publisher’s advertisements or community recommendations, it’s impossible to deny that fans of farming simulations were excited to see a fresh take on a game like Stardew Valley.
Roots of Pacha promised a unique version of the typical farming experience, focusing its setting on the Stone Age instead of having gameplay take place in a more usual contemporary world. After it dropped on Steam, reviews came pouring in leaving the game with an overall ‘Very Positive’ rating.
Sadly, fans did not have very long to leave their thoughts following the release as the game was taken down in a matter of weeks. The removal came as a shock to the public, and the Roots of Pacha developers seemed to be equally as surprised. At first, Soda Den simply wrote that they were trying to figure out why the game was gone.
The first official statement on the matter came from Soda Den the very same day. They made the above post outlining their perspective, writing that they are involved in a dispute with Crytivo over the rights to Roots of Pacha.
The developers claimed that Crytivo, the publisher, went directly to Valve and had the game taken off of Steam’s storefront. Soda Den wrote that they “are sad to report that we have been engaged in a dispute with Crytivo over the rights to Roots of Pacha,” stating that they had “worked hard to amicably resolve our issue with Crytivo internally.”
Players were understandably upset with Crytivo after reading Soda Den’s post, responding in support of the indie developer. However, the publisher did not remain silent for long.
Crytivo took to the original Tweet, posting the above in response to Soda Den’s allegations. They state that, after collaborating with Soda Den for three years, the developers allegedly wanted to rescind the mutual contract and treat it as void. This would mean that Crytivo would no longer be entitled to revenue.
The publisher also claims that they did not have Roots of Pacha taken down, but that Valve apparently chose to do so. “Per Valve Policy, if there is a dispute between parties, they remove the page until the dispute is resolved.”
There has been no further information on the matter, and Roots of Pacha appears to still be unavailable on the Steam store. Both the developers and publisher emphasized that their commitment to delivering the game and its updates to fans is still priority. As of now, players that purchased Roots of Pacha already can continue to play the game and will still receive any released patches.
If you were waiting to play this indie gem but missed your chance, you can have a look at other great simulation games or life games to keep your cozy gaming streak going until the Roots of Pacha dispute is resolved.