Unexpected Steam hit Darkest Dungeon has managed to amass a sizeable fanbase since it entered Steam's Early Access program. Most might think that's cause for celebration, but for developer Red Hook, it's suddenly become the cause of much frustration.
As you'd expect from a game in Early Access, gameplay features have been added, dropped, and tweaked since the game made its Steam debut. Players have been on hand to help iron out the kinks, and, in return, they've been given access to a game that might not get an official release for months, or even years.
Unfortunately for Red Hook, players like Darkest Dungeon a lot. In fact, they like it so much, that when the team released new features in July's "Corpse and Hound" pack, they staged a digital revolt.
Taking to the forums in droves, players slammed the new features, telling Red Hook in no uncertain terms that it had ruined the game.
Caught between a rock and a hard place, the developer has implemented a unique solution - its going to keep the new features in place, but, while the title remains in Early Access, it'll give players the ability to disable them.
"We believe that corpses and heart attacks are important mechanics for the game, not only for the reasons initially discussed in the Corpse & Hound design notes but reinforced by our observations since. However, today we are introducing a set of gameplay options - accessed via the normal Options menu - which allows you to turn them off," explained the developer via a blog post.
"Just as we were willing to experiment by adding these features, we are willing to experiment with ways to allow you to shape the DD experience a bit to your liking, [but] for clarity, our official vision of the game leaves these two features ‘on’ by default."
"Those of you who would like to enjoy the game without corpses and heart attacks now have the option to."
It's an interesting truce, as it allows Red Hook to develop the game it wants to make while letting players once again experience the game they fell in love with. How long the status quo will last, however, remains to be seen, with the development team reiterating that they're fully dedicated to pursuing their "vision for the game".