As we previously reported, Ocean Spark Studios has accused the developer of the Kickstarter-backed MMORPG Oath, Ready-Up Studios, of failing to pay for work completed. Now, in a new document produced by Ocean Spark Studios, they are accusing the developer of incompetence, in addition of accusing the developer of refusing to pay for the delivered work.
A bit of background - back on October 3rd, we reported on the allegations made by Ocean Spark Studios against Oath developer, Ready-Up Studios of not paying for art assets Ocean Spark created for the Kickstarter MMORPG. The studio initially posted a video detailing the allegations and calling on Ready-Up to pay what they owe. Ready-Up Studios posted a response, accusing Ocean Spark of reusing purchased art assets from the Unreal store. Both parties agreed to take down their posts and talk it out privately to resolve the issue.
However, the situation didn't improve, apparently, and Ocean Spark has doubled down on the allegations. In an legnthy interview with YouTuber, Cryy, Ocean Spark Studios detailed the situation, as well as released a 43-page document showcasing the situation from their point of view, as well as alleging incompetence on the part of Ready-Up.
The document details the events as they unfolded form OSS's point of view, as well as details an alleged lack of payment on the part of Ready-Up Studios, as well as admitting they made a mistake with uploading the wrong grass asset - accidentally uploading the purchased asset instead of their in-house created one for the grass - which is one of the catalysts for Ready-Up's reasoning for cutting ties with the art studio.
In the interview, Ocean Spark expresses concern as the situation has put their studio in dire straits. After claiming going five weeks of no pay, Ocean Spark confronted Stephen from Ready-Up Studios, which states the breach came from the mistakenly uploaded assets.
The team also alleges the team behind Oath doesn't really know how they are building an MMORPG based on conversations with Stephen - an Oath representative featured heavily in the document - on Discord and communication between the studio, detailed in their document.
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Since the video hit today, the Oath Discord has been abuzz with activity. While the studio hasn't put out an official statement on Twitter, Stephen from Ready-Up did reply on Discord to the fans eager for answers pointing back to their original response on the matter, as well as they will be looking into legal action.
We've reached out to Stephen as well for an official statement via Discord DM, which he responded thusly:
"Everything [Ocean Spark Studios] have documented is incomplete and cut perfectly to fit their fabricated fairytale. They are con artists who attempted to pass off others' work as their own, and when called out onit, created this story in an attempt to destroy Oath. We're continuing development as promised."
The full interview is available on Cryy's YouTube channel for those interested in going through and listening to the whole interview. While it might be just one side of the saga, this doesn't seem like a story that will be going away any time soon.
Ralph Whitmore contributed to this report.
