Sports Story, exclusive to Nintendo Switch, clears up criticism of game development hidden in a secret room

Nintendo Switch Indie Exclusive Sports Story has been updated to remove its criticism of game development, which was hidden in a secret room in the game.

Sports Story itself, a sequel to the popular Golf Story, has had rocky development and was originally slated for release in 2020. It finally arrived late last year, albeit with lukewarm reception and bugs on launch day.

The subsequent discovery by fans of an in-game room – rumored to be a game development office full of dissatisfied workers – caused quite a stir at the time. Exploring the space uncovers particularly sharp disagreements between colleagues regarding project timeliness, writing feedback, and bug testing.

Now a freshly released patch claims to have blocked access to the area – but enterprising fans have still found a way in. Inside, players have noticed that the dialogue has been changed and the criticism is no longer there.

“One could say that we are experiencing a difficult development,” says a dialogue previously held in the secret room. “You could also say that someone kept asking for new features and my original vision no longer exists.”

Visit the space post patch and it’s a different story.

“Not only are we ahead of schedule in terms of development, we are also setting records for employee satisfaction,” says dialog. “Our employees are all well-rested, well-fed and their self-esteem is skyrocketing. I can assure you that things are very well under control here! Promised.”

Sports Story developer Sidebar Games has confirmed the secret room’s existence in its latest patch notes, which claim access to the area has been removed. However, the developer still has to deal directly with its content, and Eurogamer has reached out to Sidebar Games for comment.