Developer Bird Island (formerly PortaPlay) announced on April 20th that their sci-fi tactics game, Tales from the Void, will be leaving Steam on May 20th. While the story mixes sci-fi and Lovecraftian elements the setting, and even the names and faces of its characters, are based on the real life disappearance of the HMS E18 during World War I. In the years since the game’s 2016 release the team has realized the insensitivity of basing its characters on real life people who lost their lives at sea and have decided to remove it from sale on the game’s upcoming anniversary.
It’s been almost 7 years since Tales from the Void released on Steam and thank you very much for enjoying the game. In these 7 years a lot has changed within our company and when we look back at Tales we are filled with both parental love, but also a recognition that certain elements in Tales no longer live up to our company values.
The game was inspired by the British submarine “HMS E18” that mysteriously went missing in 1916 and wasn’t discovered until 2009. Tales is our imagined story about what happened to those brave sailors. During development we thought it would be interesting to use the actual names and likeness of the crew that perished along with the submarine. However, we have since grown to see this as insensitive to their memory and to those left behind.
Therefore we have decided to cease making Tales from the Void available for new purchases from its 7th birthday (20th of May 2023) and going forward. Those of you who already own the game will still have access to downloading it through your Steam library – this is solely concerning new sales going forward.
Thank you very much for your support and honour be the memory of the brave crew of the Royal Naval submarine HMS E18.
Best regards,
Bird Island (formerly PortaPlay)
Steam Announcement – April 20, 2023
I’ve added the date to the Watch List calendar and we’ll have a page up on the site later. Thanks to Serrated-banner9 for submitting the news.