The layoffs at publisher Humble Games — where all staff were reportedly made redundant due to "restructuring" — are having immediate repercussions for some video games under the publishing label. One such title is Coral Island, a farming sim heavily inspired by Stardew Valley. The game is already out on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox, and a Switch port was on the way thanks to a Kickstarter goal. But that has been thrown into doubt.
In a lengthy statement posted on Twitter — which we can't share in full because it's rather strongly worded, and rightly so — developer Stairway Games says that Humble Games' "recent restructuring leaves consoles in a place of uncertainty", and that includes the promised Switch version.
"To start, we share in your frustrations regarding the lack of a Nintendo Switch port of Coral Island", the dev continues, citing that it has been "unable" to talk about things due to "the publishing agreement and NDA we have in place".
As it stands now, "The impact of Humble Games' restructuring on Coral Island remains uncertain for all things related to consoles, whether porting or publishing hotfixes, as they are responsible for these platforms." As an example, Stairway says it's putting out a hotfix for the Steam version of the game very soon, but it has "no idea" how to get the update on consoles because it doesn't have access to the backend on other platforms.
It's a stark reminder of the importance of publishers for indie developers, and the ongoing issues that layoffs can cause for both those let go of and those related to the publisher
As the game was a Kickstarter project, many who backed the game have signed up for Switch. But given Humble Games' "restructuring" and the uncertainty of the port even making it, Stairway is offering fans a "key change to the Steam platform".
Signing off the post, the developer says that it knows the situation "sucks", but that "we hope you understand", to which many have responded with sympathy.