Sports Story launched having a rather surprising addition: a concealed developer room that contained a narrative in regards to a poorly-managed game studio where management dictated unrealistic expectations, and exerted harsh control over staff. This led many to assume the real issues with Sports Story – game-breaking bugs, visual glitches – were caused by studio overwork, and poor communication. While developer Sidebar Games never commented around the strange room, it has now seemingly attempted to erase its discovery.
In the patch notes for any new Sports Story update, Sidebar Games confirmed the hidden room had been blocked off, to avoid players from accessing it. That didn’t stop YouTube user tendog, however, who managed to get past the newly-placed barriers and revisit the area.
What they discovered was extremely odd.
While the room remains in place, as first discovered, the dialogue of every character has been rewritten. There aren't any longer references to overwork, management demanding new game features, and pressure being put on staff.
Instead, each character is much more tolerant of their experiences. The lead developer greets the player by saying, ‘Welcome to Cold Cartridge. Not just are we ahead of schedule on development, we are also setting records in employee happiness. Our staff are all well-rested, well-fed as well as their self confidence is skyrocketing. You can be assured, things are very much in check here! I promise.’
Other developers share similar sentiments – ‘Everything is working well!’ one says. ‘I’m not seeing any problems whatsoever – the team has done an amazing job with this,’ says another.
The tone from the room has shifted dramatically, with every character now expressing an over-the-top enthusiasm that some may read as parody. That said, the objective of the room and dialogue tweaks remain vague.
It’s unknown if these changes were created to erase the disgruntled nature of the original text, as the second criticism from the game’s studio, or in an attempt to paint a brighter picture of game development.
Whatever the situation, the change is unquestionably strange – particularly given the hidden developer room is now harder to access, and was likely not designed for the majority of players to determine. If the complaints based in the room reflect the real-life circumstances of development at Sidebar Games is unclear – even though they remain a substantial concern worth addressing.
