Milsom’s story comes loaded with over a decade of history. Sympathetic as their plea seemed, I departed my meeting with Milsom extremely curious about one major detail that hadn’t really been covered: why did Saber feel it was owed the rights to Spintires in the first place? Oovee is a tiny operation with only one full-length game, Spintires, to its name since 2008. We've had to fund all these legal fees that they've brought, and it's just, it's very difficult for us.”Īlongside my conversation with Milsom, Portland Communications sent along a three-page media release entitled “Indie Gaming Developers Increasingly at Risk of Losing IP to Ruthless Industry Giants.” The document chronicled Oovee’s account of its conflicts with Saber, referring to Saber as “aggressive,” “deceptive,” “unethical,” and a “bully.” Oovee, meanwhile, is characterized as a hero standing up to said bully, not only in defense of itself but also to “protect the openness of the gaming industry to ensure it remains enriched by innovators and independent entrepreneurs like Oovee.” And I've had to put my investments into just funding our studio, because we've lost millions in sales. Countless sleepless nights, and we've had to put our own money into this. “We've had numerous lawsuits, frivolous lawsuits, being filed against us,” he says. At the time of our call, it had just hit yet another boiling point following Spintires’ removal from Steam. He joins me for a chat over Zoom alongside a representative for UK political consultancy and PR agency Portland Communications to walk me through his – or rather, Oovee’s – side of the dispute with Saber. He’s 24 years old, and for all intents and purposes is the sole public face of Oovee, where he’s worked since he was 18 alongside his sister's partner, CEO and founder Zane Saxton. On a call to explain his company’s plight this past June, Oovee COO Devin Milsom comes off convincingly as a worn-down but determined young executive. Unfortunately, none of the people fighting in it appear to be telling the full story. And while that love may have spawned a successful, beloved franchise of games, the future of all three may now hinge on a tense and mysterious legal battle culminating at the end of this year. Over several months of investigation into the two companies’ histories, legal documents, employees, and claims, I’ve uncovered a messy, complex feud over a decade old that involves years of stolen assets, allegations of millions of dollars in unpaid royalties on both sides, expensive cars, game development time bombs, possible shell companies, vanishing game developers, and a number of still-unanswered questions about the history, ownership, and fate of the little off-road driving game.Īt the heart of it all is a tiny game largely made by an individual who loved watching big trucks drive through harsh, muddy terrain and wanted to share that love with the world. Articles from June detail a long, exhausting battle between the two companies, with Saber issuing repeated legal challenges in what Oovee claims is an effort to frustrate and financially ruin the small UK publisher.īut the truth is far, far more convoluted than a simple David and Goliath match-up. The reason for Spintires’ disappearance appears, on the surface, to be a series of DMCA takedowns filed by Saber Interactive (formerly S3D), the publisher of Spintires sequels MudRunner and SnowRunner. It hasn’t returned since, and fans have been left in the dark as to whether they’ll ever be able to download, update, or share their beloved driving games with others ever again. It was reinstated not long after and then, just a few days later, removed again. Back in June, fans of 2014 physics-based driving game Spintires encountered a frustrating problem when the game was suddenly and mysteriously removed from Steam.
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