Skybound Entertainment declared that the company has terminated a contract with Starbreeze Studios and all work related to Overkill’s The Walking Dead has ended. Developed by Overkill Software, the game was published by Starbreeze and 505 Games and based on the The Walking Dead series created by Robert Kirkman.
In a statement, the company said that it did what it could to work with Starbreeze in the hopes of resolving many of the issues surrounding the game. After all, the core of Skybound’s business is all about its creators and their stories. Skybound found the game was unable to achieve the quality that was promised, in addition to being unable to meet the standards set by Skybound.
Skybound mentioned in the same statement that it apologizes to fans and the company “share[s] their disappointment in the game.” Skybound gave its assurance that the company will continue to work to ensure that fans get the most premium quality content that the company has to offer. At present, Skybound revealed that it is looking for other options with regards to its content.
In a tweet, 505 Games clarified that the console version of Overkill’s The Walking Dead has not been cancelled but merely delayed while development continues.
We just wanted to clear the position on the OVERKILL’s The Walking Dead on console and confirm that the game has not been cancelled, purely postponed whilst development is on-going. We will share further news as soon as possible.
— 505 Games (@505_Games) February 20, 2019
Back in 2014, Skybound entered into a partnership with Overkill, through its parent company Starbreeze, to develop Overkill's The Walking Dead. Last year, a Microsoft Windows version of Overkill’s The Walking Dead was released. The game garnered mixed reviews with most reviewers citing different technical problems and weak gameplay. Review aggregator Metacritic gave the game a score of 52 out of 100.
Poor sales of the game resulted in Starbreeze filing for reconstruction with the Stockholm District Court. CEO Bo Anderson also resigned.
