Maybe prepare to dig out your finest gaudy suit and mountains of, er, a certain substance. A PC re-release of Radical Entertainment’s Scarface: The World Is Yours has suddenly popped up on the Epic Store and Steam. The Epic version is available already, having been “unintentionally pushed live” early due to backend issues, according to new publishers EC Digital Entertainment.
Listings for the 2006 GTA-like were quickly spotted on both storefronts, with the Epic version on sale for £23.79 / $29.99, while the Steam listing says a release date’s to be announced down the line. The company who look to be behind the resurrection, EC Digital Entertainment, have offered an explanation for this discrepancy in a Steam announcement.
“Due to a technical issue during backend configuration, the game was unintentionally pushed live on a different platform earlier than planned,” the publishers wrote. “We want to clarify that our intended long-term release platform includes Steam, and we’re now accelerating our efforts to finalize this version. As such, you may notice that the current Steam page includes placeholder content. This will be updated leading up to the official release.”
“When the game officially launches on Steam, it will include an optional HD graphics upgrade, offered as a free DLC,” EC Digital continued, adding a disclaimer that the graphical upgrade may be “subject to change”. As for what it entails, they explained: “This enhanced mode uses AI-assisted techniques to improve certain visual elements while keeping the core experience intact. The use of AI is completely optional. Players can choose to play in original or enhanced visuals at any time.”
Now, this is where things get a bit strange. My efforts to look into who are EC Digital Entertainment have borne very little fruit. Gematsu’s report on the re-release cites them as a Hong Kong-based publisher, but following the link through to its info/category page on the site only sees you greeted with the Scarface story, a link to a website that’s pinging up an access block notification for me, and a YouTube channel with three subscribers which has a sole video uploaded in 2009.
It’s a 20 second trailer for seemingly defunct prehistoric RPG Stone Age 2, with the description linking a website for it that doesn’t appear to exist anymore. A quick Google search of their name hasn’t immediately turned up any other info about the publishers and their Steam profile doesn’t list any other games they’ve published.
One user in a Reddit thread about the re-release has claimed that the new Epic version of Scarface: The World Is Yours comes with the SilentPatch and Fusion Fix mods pre-installed. Sadly, according to one of the modders behind the two, who goes by the handle Silent, if this is the case it’s happened without permission. “None of us were contacted about this in advance (which isn’t necessary as per the license, but would be nice),” they wrote. “I KNOW that the holder of the Scarface license wasn’t willing to re-release the game, so this is suspect. I’m going to inquire for further information to the best of my abilities, but so far I doubt that release was cleared with Universal.”
So yeah, that’s why I was hesitant to encourage the digging out of Al Pacino outfits earlier. There’s a chance EC Digital Entertainment have done a proper deal for the game’s rights, but if this re-release is of the unapproved or dodgy variety, odds are a takedown could be incoming.
