So today we received two pieces of news. One - we won a Community Popular Vote at the DevGAMM Awards, surpassing juggernauts like HoMM Olden Era (very good game!). So thank you for your support!
Another - GSC Game World attacked MISERY with a DMCA strike, and the store page is now suspended, so you cannot buy the game at the moment.
In their claim, they state that MISERY infringes on their IP and that players' reviews mention S.T.A.L.K.E.R., which means it hurts their interests.
This is absolutely untrue, and we will fight back to reinstate MISERY on Steam.
MISERY is a completely different concept, happening in the fictional Republic of Zaslavie, and it has nothing to do with the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe, Chernobyl, etc. MISERY uses no characters, plot, storyline, assets, monsters, music, code, etc., from their games. It is all either originally created or legally licensed. We also think that this is an abuse of power against small independent developers by a large corporation, and it should not be a thing.
We do not pose any threat to GSC or their IP, we do not compete with their games, nor do we use any of their IP.
Of course, MISERY was inspired by many things, including games, movies, and books, but filing a DMCA strike for that is wrong. We also want to remind GSC that their games draw heavily from Roadside Picnic and the Stalker movie by Tarkovsky, and they do not own the copyright on depressive Soviet-era buildings, playing guitar, vodka, radiation, or abandoned locations, or even the poo.
We are 100% sure this misunderstanding will be resolved, MISERY will be back on Steam very soon, and we will see many amazing updates and new content. This is very unfortunate and painful for us, both mentally and financially, but the development continues, all the updates will be delivered on time, and soon we can play MISERY again.
Thank you so much for your support.
For Zaslavie!
ATTENTION: Please do not review-bomb GSC Games, do not insult them or other people in comments, especially for their nationality! We do not want or support that.