You might remember back in 2020 and 2021, there was a boatload of legal drama surrounding the rather brilliant shmup Devil Engine, whereby the game's artist and composer - siblings Thomas and Joseph Bailey - had claimed that developer Tristan Chapman (known on Twitter as 'Sinoc229') had been utilising their respective work in the game without permission, going so far as to request players don't purchase the game.
Despite the less-than-amicable conclusion to the drama, however, it looks like a full physical release of Devil Engine: Complete Edition is now in the works and is due to be released on October 12th, 2023 from publishers Beep Japan and Poppy Works. A physical release in the West will be announced at a later date, however pre-orders can currently be processed through either Amazon Japan or PlayAsia.
It goes without saying, of course, that musician Joseph Bailey isn't best pleased about the situation, and has expressed as much in a recent Twitter post:
Indeed, Chapman had previously stated that he had "decided to continue to sell DEVIL ENGINE with its original content" and would respond to any legal action taken against the developer Protoculture Games according to its own legal rights.
It certainly sounds like Chapman is moving forward with his intention and then some. Joseph Bailey, meanwhile, has stated his intention to train for the military and doesn't believe it's possible for him to have a stable career in the games industry after the incident with Devil Engine.