Recoil Games appear to have filed for bankruptcy a while ago and sadly a casualty of that is their game Rochard, which has now been removed for sale.
Rochard was an award-winning side-scroller puzzle-platformer, originally released in 2011. It was also part of the early indie game push for Linux, thanks to it being part of the Humble Indie Bundle 6 back in 2012 it was ported to Linux especially for the bundle. Not only that, it was also one of the first commercial Unity games (possibly the actual first) to be built for Linux too, so it holds something of a special place in our history.
Sadly, you can no longer buy it officially.
In a short announcement post on Steam, the developer said this:
Recoil Games has applied for bankruptcy quite a while ago. We've been trying hard to find a new home for the game. Unfortunately there were no offers that would have enabled the bankruptcy estate to close the deal. The bankruptcy estate will soon be closed and the publishing agreement with Steam will be terminated.
This means Rochard can no longer be purchased on Steam. However, the game will remain available in your Steam libraries as is.
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17 comments
Too bad.
I guess I got it from the bundle, and for sure didn't buy the bundle for getting the game.
But I tried it and the movement felt so right that the rest (story :D ) didn't matter to me.
It was and is a little gem.
I guess I got it from the bundle, and for sure didn't buy the bundle for getting the game.
But I tried it and the movement felt so right that the rest (story :D ) didn't matter to me.
It was and is a little gem.
6 Likes, Who?
Rochard was among the first games I bought after I got a Steam account. Never fully finished it, but it was a good game. Always sad to see devs disappear, but I can't remember anything other than the DLC that followed it. So they either didn't make anything or it wasn't too memorable.
4 Likes, Who?
Not even Embracer Group? They seem to buy everything these days :-D
0 Likes
Ah man, I never heard of this one before and it slipped by me. It looks really neat :(
1 Likes, Who?
I gave the article a like but didn't like the news. One of my first humble games.
I take the "like" for articles more as "if such a thing happens, I appreciate to have an article about it".
6 Likes, Who?
I loved Rochard and played it to death back in the early HiB days. I'm surprised to see that Recoil Games haven't produced anything since the 2013 DLC follow up though.
3 Likes, Who?
That's bad.
Maybe they can consider opening the source and maybe the assets?
I remember whan i listened to a tune in a Rochard fight and immediately remembered the tune from my child memories, Space Debris, by "Captain", found on Aminet (i think) in Amiga times.
What a blast from the past, Great times.
Last edited by kokoko3k on 19 February 2021 at 5:35 pm UTC
Maybe they can consider opening the source and maybe the assets?
I remember whan i listened to a tune in a Rochard fight and immediately remembered the tune from my child memories, Space Debris, by "Captain", found on Aminet (i think) in Amiga times.
What a blast from the past, Great times.
Last edited by kokoko3k on 19 February 2021 at 5:35 pm UTC
5 Likes, Who?
I bought the game solely because of the Linux support. I might be going against the current here, but bored out of my mind when I played it, even though I usually like physics puzzle games. I wonder if the developers built other games and what happened between Rochard's release and this sad announcement.
0 Likes
That music was extremely familiar, and then I remembered:
https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_player&query=57925
https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_player&query=57925
0 Likes
I wonder if the developers built other games and what happened between Rochard's release and this sad announcement.
I already looked into this - see my comment (two above yours). They were seeded in 2008 by a VC company, produced Rochard in 2011, did a Ridge Racer port in 2012, produced Rochard DLC in 2013, then went dark. Really sad.
2 Likes, Who?
Loved this game! Played it right through in one sitting when I got it with the Humble Bundle. I'm surprised and saddened they're shutting down; I wonder why they weren't able to produce much besides Rochard.
0 Likes
That's too bad! This was one of the first games I played on Linux and was pretty fun!
0 Likes
I enjoyed Rochard a lot when I played it several years ago. Sad to hear the developer is bankrupt, and that the game is no longer for sale. 
0 Likes
I played this through shortly after I got the bundle. I thought it was a great side scroller. It's too bad it won't be offered for sale. I wonder if the assets will be disposed of in a way that makes it possible for another company to reintroduce it in the future.
0 Likes
slaapliedje Feb 21, 2021
When stuff like this happens, it should just be released as a freeware thing. It isn't big enough to have an 'IP' from it, and otherwise will just be lost to time.
Last edited by slaapliedje on 21 February 2021 at 6:36 pm UTC
Last edited by slaapliedje on 21 February 2021 at 6:36 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
Rochard was really fun and I immediately checked if there were plans for a sequel. I would have immediately bought it. And I don't even like that kind of game normally. Sadly though, even at that time it was already clear that the company is dead. But even after all this years, I really don't get it how that gem could have failed.
2 Likes, Who?
Unfortunately there were no offers that would have enabled the bankruptcy estate to close the deal.
It sounds as though they did get offers to buy, otherwise wouldn't they just say "There were no offers." Instead they seem to be saying "there were no offers we could accept".
So given the choice for the estate is between zero money and some money to go to the creditors, why wouldn't they sell?! In those circumstances aren't they obligated to accept any offer?
I quite liked Rochard, although I originally bought it purely because it was one of those early games that offered native linux support, in what I'll call in hindsight the 'glory days' of Linux gaming. It wasn't super-challenging, but the gameplay premise, story etc were pretty well done.
0 Likes
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