In a Kickstarter campaign update posted early last month on September 7; the Belarus-based indie studio Weappy, developers of the upcoming police-themed strategy/adventure game This Is The Police, confirmed that they lost their publishing partner. The game’s developers were originally working with the British developer/publisher Team 17, known for developing the Worms series and publishing games like The Escapists and the upcoming platformer Yooka-Laylee. Team17 was originally scheduled to provide press coverage and marketing for the game, alongside supervising its development process. According to the post, Weappy is no longer working with the studio due to, quote, “some disagreements.”
The developers noted that the loss of their partner heavily affected a lot of their plans, but their core goal of delivering a good game remained intact. The post ended with more of an upbeat note, with them teasing a large update coming out on September 30.
In a pleasant turn of events, the studio released the Kickstarter update earlier than originally planned; coming out on Monday (September 28) rather than on Wednesday. Alongside new gameplay footage and screenshots, the post contained two bits of new information. The first bit of news was the announcement that This Is The Police will kick in Steam Greenlight’s door sometime later this week. Following up on that was a statement confirming that Weappy is still in need of a new partner.
The gameplay footage consists of brief clips showcasing various elements of the game: responding to the press during a conference, dispatching officers to investigate reported crimes, and handing out badges to units. The post ended on a somber note, with a screenshot of a dead officer killed in what appears to be a car accident 9possibly the result of a car chase gone awry).
This Is The Police was successfully funded at the start of the year, raising a total of $35,508. The game was scheduled to launch on PC in December 2015, though it’s currently unknown if the loss of the studio’s partner has affected the release window at all.
