This time last week you couldn't have guessed that Sleeping Dogs studio United Front Games was in trouble: the 3v3 brawler Smash + Grab had recently hit Early Access, and a free weekend promotion had just been announced on Steam. Then, earlier this week, news emerged that the Canadian studio would close, and Smash + Grab has since been delisted from Steam.
It's sad to see a studio close, especially so suddenly, but some have wondered whether they'd be reimbursed for buying into an Early Access game which will never be finished. The answer is yes: refunds will be made available to all purchasers on Steam.
"A huge thank you to everyone who played and bought Smash + Grab over the last several weeks," a studio spokesperson wrote on Steam. "We hope everyone had a great time playing."
"As we will not be doing any further development or support, we have asked Valve to make refunds available to any owners who request them, regardless of how many hours played."
Announced in August, United Front games CEO Stephen Van Der Mescht described Smash + Grab as a combination of their “love of competitive online games with our expertise in action mechanics and hand-to-hand combat". Our Matt Sayer played the game earlier this month, describing it as having "a whole lot of potential crammed into its loot bag."
