Salem development being handed over to Seatribe as Paradox phases out involvement

Salem, the permadeath sandbox MMO from Seatribe, has been dropped by publisher Paradox Interactive.

The two-man development team at Seatribe will maintain the rights to the title as well as all assets, with the split finalizing on July 8. There will be no shutdown of the game, according to an official statement on the matter.

"As we approach the 2.5 year anniversary of the announcement of the game and after nearly a year in beta, Seatribe and Paradox have taken stock and evaluated both where we are today and what we think the future has in store," reads the statement on the official forums.

"Our conclusion is that the game is active and much potential still lies in the game and its community, but that the concept still needs time and development to mature. To ensure longevity of this title and to have a set up that will allow Seatribe to work with this game for many months/years to come we have therefore decided to take some steps to optimize how the game is managed today and the costs of running it.

"Effective from July 8, Seatribe will assume full support management and development ownership of Salem: The Crafting MMO. Any decisions taken from that point on will be taken by and communicated through Seatribe to you - the community. Paradox Interactive will start phasing out their involvement in the project from today and on July 8 the game for all intents and purposes will be Seatribe’s to run."

As a "thank you," to players, they will be given a 50% off coupon to use in the Paradox web shopalong with 40 silver to use in Salem.

The offer will be sent via e-mail to those who have accepted to receive Salem e-mails, and said email will be sent within two weeks.

Thanks, Massively.