Them’s Fightin' Herdsis the latest free weeklyEpic Gamesgame, and its cute and charming exterior hides a brutal difficultty and controversial past. Every week, Epic Games makes a game available for free to claim for a limited time. These games remain yours to keep and play as long as you want through the Epic Games platform.
This week, the free game being distributed for free on theEpic Gameswebsite is theseemingly whimsicalThem’s Fightin' Herds,a 2D fighting game starring cute four-legged animals with some serious style.The 2020 kickstarted game was developed by Mane6 and published by Modus Games, and features hand-drawn animations by the instantly recognizable artist Lauren Faust, who’s also worked onMy Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.
The game was well-received when it originally launched but has since struggled due to some controversy surrounding its publisher. The title will be available to claim for free (down from its regular price of $19.99) from March 6 through March 13.
What Happened To Them’s Fightin' Herds?
The Controversy Surrounding The Ill-Fated Game
Them’s Fightin' Herdswas met with huge community support during its kickstarting campaign in 2020,raising over half a million dollarsand setting the game up for success. When the game launched, it only had six playable characters, with the plan to introduce more characters and a story mode over time.
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However, after just one season,Mane6 and Modus announced in aSteamupdate post that they would be “ceasing active developmenton TFH.” This also meant that the story mode would never come to fruition and some planned backer rewards would have to be changed. The news came as a shock to the game’s backers and the community, who turned to various websites toreview bomb the titleand demand refunds.
No explanation for the game’s end was ever given but it seems that the troubles stemmed from a decision by the game’s publisher, Modus, tofire most of the developers behind the project. In a post shared to Reddit byShadowking78at that time, a member of the Mane6 development team shared thatModus had allegedly let go all but three of the original development team.Whether the reason for the game’s failure was,Them’s Fightin' Herdshas officially ceased development.
Them’s Fighting Herds Is Worth Picking Up For Free This Week
Additional Characters Require A Purchase But The Base Game Is Free
Them’s Fightin' Herdsmay not have gotten its much-anticipated Story mode, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad game. In fact, the title has a score of 80 onMetacriticand receivedgenerally favorable reviews from both fans and critics.The game’s Steam page reviews are a mixed bag of people who enjoyed the game and praise its surprising difficulty, and people who loved the game but are posting negative reviews in protest of the controversy.
you may purchase more characters to play with either individually or through the season pass bundle, but the base game has plenty of content to keep you entertained. Each character has a unique skillset that makes it fun to play, and the game isunabashedly challenging despite its cute exterior. New content might no longer be in production, butThem’s Fightin' Herdsis still a solid game worth picking up while it’s free from theEpic Gamesstore.
