Axiom Verge

Who would have thought that a Wii U game could cause so much drama in 2019? We recently reported on the news that Limited Run Games is finally releasing the Wii U version of Axiom Verge after a costly legal tussle with the Spanish company BadLand Games. The two firms had signed a deal back in 2017 to create physical copies of the brilliant Metroidvania outing, but that never happened – despite Limited Run handing over $78,000.

According to Limited Run CEO Josh Fairhurst, the company never got the 6,000 copies it was promised, and despite the threat of legal action, the situation remained largely unresolved until very recently.

BadLand has now issued an official statement explaining its side of the story, and it does little to smooth things over, as you might expect. It is claimed that there were attempts to make contact with Limited Run (a claim which has been contested previously) and that BadLand has made no profit from the deal.

Here's the statement in full:

Madrid, March 19th, 2019: As a result of the latest unchecked, non-contrasted news published and related to the sale of the Axiom Verge videogame, BadLand Publishing has been immersed in a succession of news stories that, without being related to the company, are damaging its image. It is for this reason that Luis Quintans and, by allusions, BadLand Publishing want to clarify that:

Neither Badland Games nor Luis Quintans have NEVER made any kind of profit from the sale of the game Axiom Verge.

Due to the commercial situation of the company Badland Games, motivated by the impossibility of financing due to the restrictive attitude of the financial market, last October 2018, goes into bankruptcy due to lack of liquidity.

As there were not enough assets to meet the claims against the bankrupt estate, the company's registration sheet was concluded, extinguished and closed. This entailed the absorption by the creditors of any possible profit or income derived from the sales or products belonging to or generated by Badland Games.

Both Badland Games and Luis Quintans have recognized at all times the existing debt with Limited Run Games and Tom Happ Games. They have repeatedly contacted them, attempting to resolve the debt, taking the initiative to reach out-of-court payment agreements to which either no response has ever been received or which were never accepted. The only answer is the filing of a lawsuit in the United States in which no execution took place in Spain.

It is suspected that all this is part of a defamation campaign that seeks to promote third parties to the detriment of our interests, something that is evident if we take into account the suspicious closeness with the launch of the title.

Badland Publishing also has a different administrator and shareholder structure from Badland Games. Luis Quintans is just another employee at Badland Publishing.

Finally, we would like to thank the patience shown by all media who have maintained a neutral and purely informative position on the matter.

We can't imagine this statement will do anything to calm the situation down, but do you think that BadLand has perhaps been unfairly painted as the bad guy in all of this? Let us know with a comment.