Summary
A game developer has accusedEpic Gamesof not paying royalties. The video game company recently made headlines afterlaying off around 870 employeesfrom various departments.
The Epic Games layoffs also included some employees from Mediatonic, the developer behind the popular multiplayer gameFall Guys.Epic Games acquired Mediatonicback in 2021 afterFall Guysbecame a massive success over the pandemic. The game continued to treat its players with creative collaborations and quality of life updates to further enhance the gameplay experience. Apart fromFall Guys, Mediatonic was also one of the developers of quirky pigeon dating simHatoful Boyfriend.
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Released in 2011,Hatoful Boyfriendbecame popular because of its bizarre and hilarious choose-your-adventure gameplay. The title became available on Epic Games in 2021 after the Mediatonic acquisition, butHatoful Boyfriendcreator Hato Moa said that she hasn’t received any royalties from the company. In a tweet, she questioned why Epic Games had not released her payment. While Moa emphasized that the situation was “not that serious,” she still wanted to know what was happening, especially after Epic Games suddenlydelistedHatoful Boyfriendfrom the PlayStation Store, Google Play, and Apple Store two years ago. Epic Games replied to the developer’s inquiries, saying that it was looking into the situation and will reach out to her.
ManyHatoful Boyfriendfans empathized with Moa, saying that they hopeEpic Gameswould be able to fix the issue soon. In a series of follow-up tweets, Moa reiterated that she was fine and admitted that the dating sim’s sales did tank after being removed from other platforms. She also expressed her support to the Mediatonic employees who were let go, saying that the company were always nice to her. Additionally, Moa assured fans that buying from theHatoful Boyfriendshop was a good way to support her financially.
This isn’t the first time a video game developer or publisher has been called out for missing payments. Last July, HoYoverse was in the middle of a similar controversy as a number ofGenshin Impactvoice actors allegedly weren’t paid for six months. Hopefully this issue with Moa would be resolved soon.
Hatoful Boyfriendis currently available on Steam for Mac and PC.
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