Video Games

Cooking Mama: Cookstar Is Permanently Being Taken Off the Menu

The otherwise sweet and wholesome Cooking Mama was in hot water last year as a legal dispute brought Cooking Mama 2020: Cookstar into contention. It seems that it has been resolved.

The bad news is that Cooking Mama: Cookstar has been removed from store shelves and may never return.

In a press release from licensee Office Create, the company said its ongoing legal battle with Cookstar publisher Planet Entertainment has been resolved in its favor.

According to Office Create’s account, Planet Entertainment released Cookstar for Switch in 2020 without Office Create’s approval.Office Create’s decision to revoke the license to Cooking Mama. , and the PS4 version was released the following year.

Office Create sued Planet in an international court, ruling that the release infringed Office Create’s trademark and ordering the game to be removed from all digital and physical store shelves.

I’m a bit confused as to how I got here in the first place, but here’s the summary: Planet Entertainment signed him to develop Cookstar, but according to Office Create, the game was not up to par. Office Create says he told Planet to fix the issue and resubmit, but that his Planet then released the game on the eShop anyway.

At some point, another developer, 1st Playable, was also involved. However, that involvement has since been removed from the official website and other spaces, so it’s unclear what that studio did with the game.

This probably explains why Cookstar’s first release was so confusing. Some official sources claim it’s available on eShops when it wasn’t actually available, and the availability of retail copies has been very spotty, especially in Europe, with a PS4 release likely It wasn’t. Not announced at all.

Even the lead-up to its release has been confusing, with an unreleased trailer leak, an erroneous release window, a website that doesn’t exist, and a brief controversy that the game will allow background mining of cryptocurrencies. I was. withdrawn. I’m not sure how or why these individual instances happened, but it’s possible that a rogue developer released something without permission and the licensee is doing their best to get it back. . This is what Office Create claims. .

If everything is scrambling your eggs, you’re in good company. not. I tried to contact the developer last year but was ignored, and when I tried again for this article, all emails came back.

The publisher released a statement last year, but it’s a little thin. “We have full rights to publish Stars,” and that “There have been no lawsuits or rulings that prevent Planet from publishing the game.”

Here’s what we know: Cooking Mama: Cookstar was a strange game with many unanswered questions about its creation and ownership. And now it’s no longer available on digital storefronts and may soon disappear from retail stores (as of this writing, you can still find it on Amazon and Walmart).

If for some reason you’re dying to play a cooking game, Planet Entertainment has released a fairly similar game called Yum Yum Cookstar for Switch and Xbox. Funny thing is, it was developed by 1st Playable. Meanwhile, a new Cooking Mama game made entirely by Office Create hit Apple Arcade in his July.

That said, if you’re still trying to get your hands on Cooking Mama: Cookstar before it disappears forever, you might not have to worry. oven. “

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. you can find her on her twitter @duck valentine.

Related Articles

Back to top button