The virtual reality game Giant Cop is stuck in a precarious situation after it pulled away from an HTC Vive launch for the game in favor of the Oculus Touch.
The news comes as a shocker for many who have played the game; A demo was available for the Vive both at E3 and as part of a Humble Bundle. No announcement was made at E3 either, with Giant Cop sharing space on the PC Games conference floor. Now, however, Giant Cop has fully migrated to the Oculus as a "timed exclusive" for the platform, according to the developers on reddit. Some players are already demanding a refund after purchasing the demo months ago, but some people are having issues with the refunds at this time.
Previously, Giant Cop, a god simulation game where you play an oversized cop who must protect the people of Micro City, was to be a Vive launch title. While the game is still on sale at Humble Bundle, it presently does not have Vive support. The developers have also noted on Twitter that the deal with Oculus will make their game better for everyone, and cited their lack of resources as the main reason why they are focusing on one headset at a time.
https://twitter.com/Giantcop/status/743124155629854720 Oculus, for their part, stated in a response to criticism on the website KitGuru about purchasing exclusivity in general:
Quick Take
There is nothing illegal going on here, but it is certainly a bit underhanded in terms of business practices by Oculus. Having timed exclusive content gives them a leg up on the competition, and a game like Giant Cop, which already had some decent buzz going in, transferring over is a big get, especially after it was already Vive-demoed thus far.
Most of the developers on Giant Cop were confused by the situation as well, as the reddit threads show, but were quick to remind people that it is a timed exclusive, not a full-blown exclusive. That being said, the damage was done, a lot of customers feel that is a break in trust, and the countless amount of reddit posts show that feeling ten-fold. What will happen to Giant Cop is anyone's guess now.
More importantly, what will happen between Oculus and the other VR headsets? What do you think will happen? Leave your comments below.