Prehistoric farming RPG Roots of Pacha returns to Steam following development dispute

Roots of Pacha, Stone Age farming sim — (Image credit: Soda Den)

After two weeks of being unavailable for purchase, paleolithic farming sim Roots of Pacha has returned to sale on Steam. The game was originally delisted by Valve following a legal dispute between publisher Crytivo and developer Soda Den, seemingly begun over contract stipulations in the publishing agreement.

Crytivo Statement on Roots of Pacha — (Image credit: Crytivo)

"Over the past two weeks, Crytivo and Soda Den have worked tirelessly to achieve the common goal of restoring Roots of Pacha on Steam. We are happy to share we have reached an agreement and that Roots of Pacha has been restored to Steam for all to purchase. We also would like to share that Crytivo and Soda Den have made the decision to amicably part ways under terms that are mutually beneficial," said Crytivo and Soda Den in the statement.

The dispute started a few weeks ago in a muddled series of statements after Roots of Pacha was delisted on Steam. Soda Den first stated that it had "worked hard to amicably resolve [its] dispute with Crytivo internally." The developer claims Crytivo approached Valve and "authorized them to remove Roots of Pacha from Steam" without the developer's consent. Crytivo then alleged that Soda Den attempted to unilaterally back out of its contract shortly after launch, effectively terminating a three-year collaboration on the game and disregarding prior revenue-sharing terms.

With regard to its removal from Steam, well, it's Valve's standard policy to remove games from sale when there's a legal dispute between parties involved.

For our part, we're happy that the situation seems resolved amicably as we quite liked Roots of Pacha. Contributor Andrea Shearon awarded it an 88% in our review and wrote that it "brilliantly iterates on a genre famous for finding joy in the monotonous and mundane." Meanwhile our Lauren Morton wrote that "Pacha's continuous flow of 'idea' quests, explorable areas, and activities is expertly paced, making the irresistible pull of 'just one more day' just as strong as Stardew's."

You can find Roots of Pacha on Steam for $25.

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.