Salt and Sanctuary creator calls for better player treatment of devs to avoid ‘toxic industry’

The studio behind 2D Dark Souls-a-like Salt and Sanctuary has issued a plea to players to be kinder to developers, after it was attacked over the Vita port of its game.

Ska Studios launched Salt and Sanctuary in March, followed by a Steam release in May, with an upcoming Vita version announced.

However, the Vita release was later delayed indefinitely after the studio working on the translation, Sickhead Games, ran into internal difficulties regarding the middleware required.

Players were incensed by the news, with some who had brought the title on PS4 complaining that it was originally advertised as being a cross-play release across the platforms.

Now, Ska founder James Silva has released a public appeal for players to be more understanding with regards to the challenges of development.

“I’m working on the Japanese PS4 release, integrating more localizations into all releases, and bug fixes,” he said in response to the complaints. “Another studio is working on the Vita port. Yelling at either studio isn’t going to speed up anything.

"If you bought Salt and Sanctuary on PS4 solely to own it on Vita and are unsatisfied, you can absolutely ask Sony for a refund.”

He went on to elaborate on the trouble faced by Sickhead, explaining: “When we agreed to release on Vita, we were told that the middleware would be done by the time we were, but it’s turned out to be a much bigger challenge to the incredibly talented devs working on it than anyone expected. It’s no one’s fault.”

Concluding, Silva referenced the aggressive treatment the studio had received following the delay of the Salt and Sanctuary for Vita, expressing his concerns that the lack of understanding was damaging the wider industry.

“As a general plea, I wish everyone could be civil to developers,” he asked. “In my nine years of professional indie game development, I’ve seen attitudes go from 95 per cent supportive/five per cent meh to 50 per cent supportive/50 per cent angry, impatient, and downright hurtful.

“Not only does it really turn a good mood sour fast, but I just hate to see the industry becoming such a toxic place.”