Cube World. For some the very mention of it invokes memories. A sensation that stole the headlines back in 2013 when it first came to be; described by most as a Minecraft clone but it was no joke. This game was only in alpha but already looked promising with hang gliders and boats and pixel enemies. The press assured readers it was going places but then everything stopped.

30th June 2014 was the last official word on the game with this video being uploaded:

Just like the rest, this video was made to showcase an update that never came to be and to this day Cube World hasn’t had an update but instead a steady flow of concepts released on Twitter.

So what happened?

Well the good news is Cube World isn’t abandoned, or at least it wasn’t until July last year when Wollay (the developer) stopped posting updates on Twitter and Instagram. From what I can gather he was in the process of bringing a game-changing update around.

The Reddit community, on the other hand, is alive and kicking with a new post almost every day. Some share theories on where Wollay has been all these years while others give suggestions for games like Cube World. The mods are extremely active and have provided visitors with an FAQ on what’s going on; check it out:

Q: What happened to Cube World while I was gone for X amount of time?

A: Since the second update, there haven’t been any new updates, and in the middle of 2014 (correct me if I’m wrong), Wollay decided to shut down the shop until the next update so he would stop getting literal death threats over him not releasing an update. People sometimes come to the sub to complain about him not releasing updates, and it used to be an ongoing war of the believers of the update versus the non-believers.

Q: Is the game dead?

A: No, the game isn’t dead. There is still a community surrounding the game, and there is still promise of an update, but nobody knows when

Q: When’s the next update?

A: Whenever Wollay decides to release an update. He gives out previews of the game on his twitter and on his instagram.https://twitter.com/wol_lay/status/392124893480767489

Q: Why doesn’t Wollay just release the game as he develops it?

A: Presumably to avoid the backlash he received when fans first begged him to release the game in early alpha. He explained at one point that he was tired of the criticism and hate he got, so he shut everything down and decided to develop on his own.

Q: Is anyone else feeling sad/scammed/angry? Alt: Pursuit of legal action?

A: In the terms and conditions on the Picroma site, it explains heavily that they do not guarantee a full release, quality, or any such matters, so currently what you get is what you get. No, you cannot sue^1. If you want an update, please wait with the rest of us. We’re good people (I promise).

ADDING SOMETHING I MISSED:

Q: Angry words or submissive title about how everyone should stop hoping. Looking for an explanation as to why there’s still hope?

A: Mostly, it’s being hopeful and patient about waiting for the game. It’s being the consumer that Wollay wanted when he released the game and asked for people to be supportive, but not demanding. Asking things like this shows him that his community is the thing that made him go silent. That’s why we’re waiting for the game to be updated and not worrying about the updates. We’re just waiting.

I’ll be honest with anyone who is considering or has made posts like this, I know you’re contributing to the discussion, but you’re coming across in a rude or arrogant way. Instead of asking things like people have already, try to spark a thoughtful, peaceful discussion about it. There’s no need to bash or insult anyone over it. Everyone else just wants a quiet or peaceful place where we can talk about a game we love or enjoy, or simply stopped worrying about it, because there’s no point.

So there you have it. A mystery solved. Wollay and his wife are working on the game in their spare time and while we don’t have an ETA we can assume that it’s getting somewhere due to the recent radio silence on Twitter and Instagram. Gamelust reached out to Wollay but we have not received a response although I managed to find this in the Discord server:

To this day Cube World cannot be purchased thus people turn to pirating the game in hope of tasting what it once was. A modding scene is present as it’s a case of using a simple editor to put blocks together and uploading to the internet. Cube World is a strange yet statisfying example of how a game can be kept alive without the presence of a dev.