Yet again, publisher PQube is the topic of discussion in the most negative way. Indie developer CORECELL has become the next to publically admonish PQube, as they state that the publishing company is withholding payments and funds after the devs canceled their publishing agreement with PQube.
Last week, we saw that A Space For The Unbound developer, Mojiken, took to Twitter to accuse PQube of misappropriating diversity funds. They went on to state that the publishing company hid the facts that were related to the diversity funds, and used the funds as leverage against the indie developer. Today, we have learned that yet again, accusations are being made against PQube, but this time, they withhold revenue generated by the game developed by CORCELL, AeternoBlade II.
The developer states that back in 2019, PQube published their game to platforms such as Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in Europe, under a contract that called for the publisher to payout a minimum guarantee to the devs. During that time, the publishing company allegedly paid them well below the minimum guarantee of the signing milestone at the time the devs sent them the game. Once the game was sent over, the devs state that PQube never sent any of the remaining milestones per the contract since.
After deliberating and going back and forth with the publisher, they weren't able to reach any form of solution or agreement. The devs decided that the best course of action was to terminate the publishing contract, and this is when things went even further south. Once the agreement was null and void, PQube allegedly refused to give publishing control on the console platforms back to the developers and has continued to sell their game and keep the revenue for themselves. PQube told the devs that they would relinquish control back if they kept this matter secret, but CORCELL said no more. They decided to stop making deals with the publishing company and tell their story for the world to see.
Though they knew something was off during this entire transaction, there wasn't much that they could do, as they are a small indie development company that can't afford the legal fees to fight this case in another country. Sadly, this seems to be a trend with PQube, and while all of these statements are considered allegations and not facts at this time, hopefully, other indie developers can learn the signs to look out for in this type of scenario, and avoid a situation like this.
