In a lengthy statement posted on Twitter — which we can't share in full because it's rather strongly worded, and rightly so — developer Stairway Games says that Humble Games' "recent restructuring leaves consoles in a place of uncertainty", and that includes the promised Switch version.
"To start, we share in your frustrations regarding the lack of a Nintendo Switch port of Coral Island", the dev continues, citing that it has been "unable" to talk about things due to "the publishing agreement and NDA we have in place".
As it stands now, "The impact of Humble Games' restructuring on Coral Island remains uncertain for all things related to consoles, whether porting or publishing hotfixes, as they are responsible for these platforms." As an example, Stairway says it's putting out a hotfix for the Steam version of the game very soon, but it has "no idea" how to get the update on consoles because it doesn't have access to the backend on other platforms.
It's a stark reminder of the importance of publishers for indie developers, and the ongoing issues that layoffs can cause for both those let go of and those related to the publisher
As the game was a Kickstarter project, many who backed the game have signed up for Switch. But given Humble Games' "restructuring" and the uncertainty of the port even making it, Stairway is offering fans a "key change to the Steam platform".
Signing off the post, the developer says that it knows the situation "sucks", but that "we hope you understand", to which many have responded with sympathy.
Coral Island was revealed in 2021 and was backed within 36 hours on Kickstarter. The game launched on PC and other platforms in 2023, and while the game proved buggy early at launch, many were a fan of the innovations and evolutions the game brought to the farm sim genre.
Humble Bundle, the owner of publisher Humble Games, is a subsidiary of IGN Entertainment after being bought by Ziff Davis in 2017. This year, Humble Games has helped launch #blud, Stray Gods: Orpheus, and Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus.
