If you’re a huge fan of platformers, or indie games, or have been around in the past few years, you might have heard of “Shovel Knight”: It’s one of the most beloved indie darlings since sliced bread. I’m actually such a big fan, that I bought the “Treasure Trove” edition years and years ago (though for the 3DS, as I didn’t have a Vita at the time… that’s how long ago I bought it). The “Treasure Trove” edition meant that I would get all the DLC ever released on for the game… FOR FREE!.
It’s been a great few years, to Yacht Club Games’ credit: they’ve released tons of DLC, with another huge single player, King of Cards, coming soon. Today, however, they’ve announced that the long-awaited battle mode which was part of the stretch-goals during the original Kickstarter. Titled “Shovel Knight Showdown”, it is set to be quite a fun experience for fans of the series and fans of “todos contra todos” multiplayer games.
Unless you own a Vita or 3DS.
Good day, brave shovel fighters! We are very excited today to pull back the curtain and announce Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove’s final game:
Shovel Knight Showdown!
Read all about it: https://t.co/XLq3wg9a3D pic.twitter.com/xFkqeNpQVL
— Yacht Club Games (@YachtClubGames) August 28, 2018
If you “read all about it” (as they suggest in their tweet), you’ll notice one peculiarity in the list of supported platforms:
I only recently noticed this, so I reached out to Yacht Club Games on Twitter to inquire about the issue. As a “Treasure Trove” owner, I thought I was entitled to all the same content as those with console versions.
What of 3DS Treasure Trove owners?
— Marcos Codas (@MarcosCodas) August 28, 2018
Yacht Club Games, however, replied confirming that the latest DLC, “Shovel Knight Showdown”, wouldn’t be coming to 3DS. Or Vita.
Right. Showdown will not be releasing on portable (3DS and Vita) systems.
— Yacht Club Games (@YachtClubGames) August 28, 2018
When asked whether 3DS and Vita owners would be entitled to some sort of remuneration or incentive due to being left out this time around, Yacht Club Games simply said that these platforms would still receive the single-player “King of Cards” DLC (which all other platforms are also getting).
These platforms are still set to receive a substantial single player game addition with King of Cards. We have also increased the price of SK when new content was added to the game, such as with Specter of Torment.
— Yacht Club Games (@YachtClubGames) August 28, 2018
They said that, due to the type of game “Shovel Knight Showdown” is (a local multiplayer experience), it wouldn’t make the jump to 3DS or Vita.
Battle Mode is designed to be a single system, multiple player game. We mentioned that it would not be playable on portable platforms since the original Kickstarter.
— Yacht Club Games (@YachtClubGames) August 28, 2018
However, there are plenty of local multiplayer experiences on 3DS and Vita (though of course not a single system one). From “Nidhogg” to “Borderlands 2″ to Freedom Wars”, there’s no shortage of games showcasing that it’s possible to have local multiplayer on both systems.
Another interesting point is that Yacht Club Games indicated that they said the battle mode (now known as “Shovel Knight Showdown”) wold not be coming to portable platforms. What I could find, however, was this:
So, as far as I could find, what they said was that this battle mode *might* not make it to 3DS because of the way multiplayer worked on the platform. There is no mention of the Vita at all, however.
An interesting point to take into consideration is that the 3DS version of “Treasure Trove” cost 3DS owners (and Vita owners) the same as console versions of the game, as can be seen in the image from their original Kickstarter, seen below:
They also reached out to let me know that this isn’t news, as they’ve announced this was happening all the way back in 2017, when “Specter of Torment” released (though, I must admit, I did not read that update at the time… I was too busy playing “Specter”).
We also mentioned it as recently as during the release of Specter of Torment– our last big game addition.https://t.co/FdAzGrKSBO
— Yacht Club Games (@YachtClubGames) August 28, 2018
While this seems like a sad choice by a super cool dev (and it kind of is), it saddens me that they could have handled it better. They could have either made ad-hoc couch multiplayer a thing (I don’t think it would have been too difficult… though admittedly, my knowledge of game development is limited to the stuff I’ve personally released), or given 3DS and Vita owners a consolation prize due to them not receiving the same amount of content as their console counterparts.
We’re not the only ones puzzled by the decision, though; have a read at some customer tweets below:
At the very least you could tell us WHY instead of flipping those systems the middle finger and leaving it at that. The least we deserve is a proper excuse for this incredibly lazy behavior of yours (which ain't exactly what we paid you for BTW).
— Tim Legdeur (@TimLegdeur) August 28, 2018
really sad that it wont come to the 3ds :/ As I love my Touch screen and dont have the game for anything but my 3ds
— Paul Kelly (@letsplaykeldeo) August 28, 2018
"Not available for 3DS" :'(
— Fai'Dro (@DroiteSorel) August 28, 2018
It's disgusting that they'd rather support a dead console over a lively handheld like the 3DS. Never thought that they'd sink this low.
— Tim Legdeur (@TimLegdeur) August 28, 2018
What do you think, though? Do you think Yacht Club Games should have made more of an effort to keep portable customers happy? Or are you indifferent to the situation? Let us know in the comments below!
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