The Outbound Ghost has been pulled from Steam by its own developer as an act of self-sabotage against the publisher. Now the publisher, Digerati is seeking legal action.
Released on PC in 2021 and consoles in 2022, The Outbound Ghost is a turn-based RPG that draws inspiration from classic titles such as Paper Mario. The game has the player take control of an amnesiac ghost who helps other spirits in the town of Outbound find peace. While the game has a charming style, it landed fairly mixed reviews, with many criticizing the writing as well as the framerate on consoles. This framerate issue seems to be the biggest point of contention between the publisher Digerati and developer Conradical Games, which Conradical says is a breach of contract.
Currently, Conradical, which is helmed by Conrad Borrell, is seeking to remove the game from all digital platforms as the studio faces a lawsuit from Digerati. Conradical made the initial version of The Outbound Ghost for Steam and published the game independently in 2021, later contracting Digerati to publish the console versions, which were made through a third-party port studio. These versions launched in 2022 but Conradical says the products were not on par with the original PC release due to game-breaking bugs and the near-unplayable framerate. Borrell stated in a December 2022 Youtube video that players should “not purchase any publicly available version of The Outbound Ghost because it is not up to the quality standards of the games” Condracial develops. The day after this video was released, Digerati filed a defamation lawsuit, alleging Borrell made knowingly false statements, with the cited example being Borrell warning a fan of a game-breaking bug, while also adding Borrell was in “breach of contract” for upwards of $75,000.
Speaking to Kotaku, a spokesperson for the publisher claimed that Borrell’s video contained “several falsehoods about the ongoing dispute” and that the publisher is “very disappointed” that the issue has been aired publicly.
“Digerati totally refutes Conrad’s statements,” the spokesperson stated. “Conradical has been timely paid all royalties due to date. Digerati advised Conrad of such payment several hours before he posted the video on February 16. Conrad also accuses Digerati of not reporting certain royalty payments. This is another falsehood. We provided Conrad with all statements for each revenue source. We have offered a full audit of our books to Conradical’s legal team. They have not exercised this option, but Conrad continues to assert these false claims.”
The spokesperson also claims that Conradical has yet to deliver on Kickstarter promises to backers while also stonewalling Digerati. “Conrad’s comments about the performance of the game [are] also noted. While the porting is the responsibility of the publisher, it goes without saying that the publisher, porting team, and developer need to work together to iron out any bugs and so we can provide the game that everyone wants. We asked Conrad to help identify bugs or issues; however, Conrad has refused to work with us or communicate with Digerati on any channel.”
In response to this, Borrell has filed DMCA notice against his own title on all platforms, stating in a YouTube video that he hopes to work with digital platforms to remove the game from sale, thereby conforming to the DMCA notice. The notice alleges that Digerati is committing infringement by continuing the sale of The Outbound Ghost without Conradical’s permission. Borrell stated in the YouTube video, “Why are we making this video and not taking care of this matter privately? Well, we’ve tried. The publisher is not complying. So we are doing this so that people know we are not responsible for the faulty console versions, as well as trying to find a way to regain control of the [digital] storefronts”. Borrell also alleges that Digerati is withholding payments and has purposefully underreported revenue, thereby breaching contract.
This is a developing situation, with most details being vague due to the nature of legal cases. While it is hard to identify who has actually done wrong, the exact details of the contract will more than likely come to light during the suit.
