Problems developer and publisher Spintires leads to game unplayability

A dispute over finances between the developer and publisher of the off-road racing simulator Spintires has led to a situation that renders the game unplayable. The game is no longer available for purchase on Steam. A solution is being worked on.

Many users reported that their game suddenly stopped working, including on GoT. On Reddit, players have posted so-called timebombs found in Spintires that allegedly made the game unplayable. According to developer Pavel Zagrebelnyy, the game’s problems were caused by a bug that was not fixed in time. This would be due to the lack of communication between him and publisher Oovee, he explains in an interview with Gamasutra.

According to Pavel, the so-called timebombs are not a deliberate method to make the game unplayable. Instead, the pieces of code identified as culprits are a feature that allows the game to check at certain times to see if it’s a legal version of Spintires. He says that bug has already been fixed and should have been uploaded to Steam, but he doesn’t know why Oovee isn’t making the update.

Publisher Oovee also rejects the idea that Pavel deliberately sabotaged the game. On the forum, the company indicates that it is testing the update that Pavel has provided. Until then, Spintires is not available for purchase on Steam. For now, user ‘LocalHost’ has provided a solution to the problem on the Oovee forum.

Pavel and Oovee have had problems before because of Spintires. The game officially came out in 2014, but development for the game was halted a short time later due to a dispute between the developer and publisher over money. This issue was eventually resolved, but in late 2015, the two were again discussing payments.

According to Pavel, Oovee owes him a lot of money, as should be apparent from the contract. According to Oovee, the terms of the contract have been met. “Pavel is often angry, I’m afraid geniuses are often like that,” the publisher said. Research by Eurogamer shows that Oovee struggles with more problems. For example, the company is late in submitting its paperwork for tax, putting its assets at risk of being taken over by the UK government.