Them's Fightin' Herds Announces End of Development, Immediately Hit With Community Backlash

ign.com:

The publisher of fighting game Them's Fightin' Herds has come under fire from angry fans after it abruptly announced the end of development.

Them’s Fightin’ Herds is a 2D fighting game featuring cute animals that raised $586,346 from 10,513 backers in a successful crowdfunding drive ahead of its 2020 launch. It was well received upon release, with IGN’s review returning an 8/10. “Them's Fightin' Herds is an exceptional fighting game by any measure, only held back by its tiny roster of six characters,” we said.

Last year, developer Mane6 released the game’s Season 1 pass, which added four additional playable characters among other content. Fast forward to this week and the release of Them’s Fightin’ Herds' version 5.1.0 update, which includes balance adjustments, bug fixes, and even new gameplay mechanics.

In a post on Steam, Mane6 and publisher Modus Games issued an update on the third and fourth playable characters to be released as part of the Season 1 pass, both due out together as part of next year's update, version 6.0. Buried at the end of the update is a message on “where Them’s Fightin’ Herds goes from here”.

This message confirms development on Them’s Fightin’ Herds will cease with the completion of Season 1, and that the planned Story Mode will not be completed.

“After the Season 1 pass is complete, we will be ceasing active development on Them’s Fightin’ Herds,” the statement reads. “We will still be able to release small patches to address game-breaking bugs, but no new content will be produced. Unfortunately, that includes Story Mode.

“Story Mode has always been an ambitious feature and one we truly desired to implement. We know how much our fans have been looking forward to Story Mode chapters, and we hope you