A new patch for Sidebar Games' Sports Story has altered dialogue from a secret room that contained complaints about development, and the developers say they're working to remove the room from the game entirely.
This secret room was never intended to be seen by players, and was uncovered shortly after launch. This new patch was supposed to remove access to the room altogether, but some players still managed to find a way in. Sidebar Games even addressed the room in its latest patch notes, writing, "Blocked access to the secret dev room." Sidebar Games is aware that some players still found their way into the room, and is struggling to remove this secret area from Sports Story.
"Unfortunately we are unable to comment on the origins of the secret dev room," Sidebar Games said in a statement to IGN. "Efforts are being made to remove it from the game but it has proved difficult due to the way the game is programmed."
The original conversation in this secret room talked about troubles during development, with lines like, "You might say we're experiencing a troubled development," and, "You might also say somebody kept requesting new features and my original vision no longer exists."
The Sports Story dev room is actually still accessible, but the dialogue has changed #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/h8Ch5Z6f2X
— tendog (@tend0g) January 29, 2023
But now, as reported by Eurogamer, the room now contains different dialogue in which characters have changed their tune, saying, "Not only are we ahead of schedule on development, we are also setting records in employee happiness... Our staff are all well-rested, well-fed, and their self-esteem is skyrocketing. I can assure you, things are very much under control here! I promise."
Sports Story is the long-awaited sequel to the 2017 Switch indie hit Golf Story. The game was first announced in 2019 for a summer 2020 release date, before delays pushed the game all the way to December 2022.
The game was in a rough state at launch, featuring a number of game-breaking bugs alongside poor performance. Sidebar Games has already released multiple patches to get the game in a more playable state over the last month. The lengthy delay and inclusion of this secret development room suggest that the developers of Sports Story struggled during production.
We have a patch under way to fix some issues that have been reported. If you have any issues, please send to our email with Bug Report in the title. Should be ready soon, however the processing time for the patch could be a little longer with the holiday.
— Sidebar Games (@sidebargames) December 24, 2022
This story was updated to include the statement from Sidebar Games.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.