Starsand Island has been suddenly removed from Steam

Popular life sim Starsand Island has unexpectedly disappeared from Steam, with PC players no longer able to purchase it on that platform, but it may be available again in the near future. Starsand Island it was only available in early access for about two months before it was removed from Steam, so potential players who were late to the party were currently out of luck.

Despite a bit of a rough start due to early mistakes, Starsand Island has impressed critics, consistently receiving high scores for its variety of enjoyable activities, customization options, and potential for social interaction. It also did quite well among players on Steam, although its user score may have been artificially inflated in the end Starsand Island a review controversy that saw many users praising the game after only a few minutes of playing, with the development team kindly asking that these overly positive reviewers cease their actions.

Starsand Island: All the fish and where to find them

Starsand Island offers dozens of different types of fish to catch. If you want to collect all the fish, you can find their full list here.

Starsand Island developers explain why it was removed from Steam

Now a new controversy has arisen with the removal Starsand Island from Steam on April 9, just two days before the game completes its second full month in Early Access. According to a Twitter post by publisher and developer, Seed Sparkle Lab, the removal was initiated by Steam due to copyright issues regarding one of Starsand Islandfeature, with the social media team noting that “core visuals from the classic title” were inadvertently included in one particular minigame during the game's planning stage and not removed earlier Starsand IslandStarting early access. The post doesn't identify the minigame in question, but it does say that the removal from Steam is only temporary and the development team has already submitted a patched build for review. As long as Steam approves the new build of the game, it should be possible to purchase and play again on Steam.

Those who have already started their journey in the game should not worry about losing their progress. Seed Sparkle Lab assures players that once the game is back on Steam, their Starsand Island save data will carry over to the new build, though it will require players to update first. The next build should support any progress players have made and still give them access to all assets previously included in the game, except those removed due to a copyright dispute.

How will the romance possibilities of Starsand Island hold up in Stardew Valley

In addition, Seed Sparkle Labs is offering compensation to its fans as an apology for the error and giving them access to a free Starsand Island costume, new Shining Star outfit set. This compensation item will be released as free DLC that will be available to all players on Steam, and the team anticipates that it will be available within seven business days of the drop, which would likely fall on April 20th. This early DLC release date seems like an optimistic view of the game's cancellation considering how soon it's coming. The team will also strengthen its internal control activities in the hope of preventing a similar incident in the future.

Arrange the covers in the correct US release order.

Easy (5) Medium (7) Hard (10)

Interestingly, the copyright dispute doesn't seem to affect the game's availability on Xbox. Early access version Starsand Island is available on Xbox Series X/S and its current listing on the Microsoft Store is still active. Additionally, it appears to still be accessible among the collection of enjoyable games on Xbox Game Pass. Starsand Island a full release is planned, which also includes support for the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2, with a projected release window of summer 2026.