The 2013 Wild West FPS Call of Juarez: Gunslinger was removed from Steam (and Xbox Live and PlayStation Network) at the end of March. Now it's back, and flying the flag of Techland Publishing, a division of developer Techland, which has acquired the game from original publisher Ubisoft.
"We would like to thank Ubisoft for its incredible work publishing the Call of Juarez games," Techland Publishing CPO Adam Lasoń said. "We’ll continue the great efforts of Ubisoft and support the fans of the Call of Juarez universe in the same dutiful and passionate way."
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, an "homage" to tales of the Old West, is actually quite good, but I think it suffered somewhat for coming on the heels of Call of Juarez: The Cartel, an interesting attempt to bring the series into the modern day that was really not good: "Brutal and boring," as we said in our 35/100 review. That's the sort of negative impression that tends to hang in the air for awhile.
The status of the Call of Juarez series overall isn't entirely clear. The Techland Publishing statement refers specifically to Gunslinger; the Steam listing for the original Call of Juarez also lists Techland as the publisher, but its direct sequel, Bound in Blood, still bears the Ubisoft nameplate. (The Cartel is nowhere to be seen, which is probably for the best.)
It's also not clear what Techland has in mind for the future of the franchise: "Passionate" support for the game is laudable, but Gunslinger is five years old and not exactly a runaway blockbuster. I've reached out to Techland to ask about its longer-term plans, and will update if I receive a reply: In the meantime, if you'd like to try your hand at slinging some guns, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is on sale on Steam for $10/£7/€8 until May 4.
