The publisher of fighting game Them’s Fightin’ Herds has come under fire from angry fans after it abruptly announced the end of development.
Them’s Fightin’ Herds is a 2D fighting game featuring cute animals that raised $586,346 from 10,513 backers in a successful crowdfunding drive ahead of its 2020 launch. It was well received upon release, with IGN’s review returning an 8/10. “Them’s Fightin’ Herds is an exceptional fighting game by any measure, only held back by its tiny roster of six characters,” we said.
Last year, developer Mane6 released the game’s Season 1 pass, which added four additional playable characters among other content. Fast forward to this week and the release of Them’s Fightin’ Herds’ version 5.1.0 update, which includes balance adjustments, bug fixes, and even new gameplay mechanics.
In a post on Steam, Mane6 and publisher Modus Games issued an update on the third and fourth playable characters to be released as part of the Season 1 pass, both due out together as part of next year’s update, version 6.0. Buried at the end of the update is a message on “where Them’s Fightin’ Herds goes from here”.
This message confirms development on Them’s Fightin’ Herds will cease with the completion of Season 1, and that the planned Story Mode will not be completed.
“After the Season 1 pass is complete, we will be ceasing active development on Them’s Fightin’ Herds,” the statement reads. “We will still be able to release small patches to address game-breaking bugs, but no new content will be produced. Unfortunately, that includes Story Mode.
“Story Mode has always been an ambitious feature and one we truly desired to implement. We know how much our fans have been looking forward to Story Mode chapters, and we hope you understand how much we looked forward to working on and releasing them.
“We are looking for opportunities to release content that has already been produced for Chapter 2, starting with a new stage, Restricted Section. This stage will be a part of the version 6.0 update alongside Nidra and Baihe.
“We will unveil more info on Baihe as we head into 2024. She and Nidra will release together in early next year’s update, version 6.0.”
There’s an additional note on crowdfund rewards, some of which remain outstanding. “This shift in development does mean we will need to adjust some of our originally planned perks,” reads the statement. “More information on this will be shared in the coming weeks via email and on our Indiegogo channel.”
Then, a short conclusion: “Thank you all for taking the time to read this announcement and for sticking with us all these years. We will continue updating our players on our social channels and look forward to our new characters releasing soon.”
It’s fair to say this statement from Mane6 and Modus has gone down like a lead balloon within Them’s Fightin’ Herds’ community. There’s outrage over on the game’s Indiegogo crowdfunding page, where some customers are calling for refunds, and it’s even worse on Steam, where recent reviews have a “mostly negative” rating, compared to “very positive” for all reviews.
Them’s Fightin’ Herds’ “most helpful review” in the past 30 days sums up the sentiment: “The story mode, which was advertised in the Indiegogo campaign and was part of a stretch goal is now scrapped after years of being told it was coming and that development was being done. What a joke.
“With the recent clearance and closure of Mane6’s merch store, the lengthy wait for the second half of the season pass and lack of updates after the change of publisher, it was pretty obvious something was going on behind the scenes, and it shows. Most likely, this wasn’t the fault of the developers, at least I’d like to imagine so, but possibly on the new publisher, Modus, and if so, I wish them the best with their future projects, however as it stands I don’t believe I can recommend Them’s Fightin’ Herds any longer. Due to the development being halted and no doubt that the already small player base is going to drastically shrink in the coming months and years, I don’t see the game’s servers lasting long either.
“This is an incredibly disappointing turn of events, as I feel this game had so much potential, so many interesting and fresh ideas for a fighting game, such an interesting cast of characters and world, and in the end it all got cut short before it could reach its true potential.”
Another recently posted negative Steam review, from a user with over 300 hours on Them’s Fightin’ Herds, bemoaned the end of development. “Online is pretty much dead and the story (which only has one chapter out of the expected six) will forever be unfinished. Gameplay and music are solid but it’s not much use without people to play with. No reason to buy unless you have friends to play with and it’s on a major sale.”
It’s hard to see where Them’s Fightin’ Herds goes from here. With the community backlash in full swing, there seems little hope that the game’s community will support a healthy multiplayer environment in the months to come, with or without the release of promised new characters.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
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