Sega "didn't mean to dredge up painful memories" by releasing Golden Axed game made during crunch Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Sega "didn't mean to dredge up painful memories" by releasing Golden Axed game made during crunch Steam listing edited to remove "slur". News by Tom Phillips Deputy Editor Updated on 15 Oct 2020 41 comments Last night, Sega celebrated its 60th anniversary with a range of freebies for fans - including a long-lost and unfinished Golden Axe prototype. Today, Sega has issued a statement on this cancelled prototype, which it jokily renamed Golden Axed, after a heartfelt and widely-shared Twitter thread by Tim Dawson, one of the project's key staff. Dawson refuted Sega's suggestion the company had reached out to the project's original development team before releasing the prototype, described crunching on the project for 14-hour days, and branded the time period as "a personal nexus of nightmare hours, inept management, industry realisations and heroics achieved with a small team under unreasonable conditions". "It's an odd feeling to see it surface eight years later without context, credits and with a joke title sequence," Dawson continued. I felt dead insideNot just because of a couple of long 7 day work weeks and start of the RSI in my right arm that would go on to jeopardise development of @AndroidCactus , but because I had no trust left in the people who ran things- Tim Dawson NZGDC (@ironicaccount) October 15, 2020 To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Manage cookie settings Last night, Sega described Golden Axed on its Steam page with the warning it "may be janky, may be buggy, may be an artefact of its time". Quoting this, Dawson replied: "Go fuck yourself, parasites." Watch on YouTube "Sega Europe reached out to former members of the Golden Axe: Reborn dev team to produce this prototype of the game for Steam as part of our 60th Anniversary celebrations," a Sega spokesperson told Eurogamer today. "We wanted to bring the work of the developers at the time to light and celebrate it as a part of our history. Something we didn't get the chance to do first time around. "We certainly didn't mean to dredge up painful memories for Mr. Dawson and his former colleagues or appear disrespectful. We've removed the line from the Steam copy that could have been taken as a slur on the development and would like to reassure everyone that it was intended as a comment on the build we had ported to PC, not the quality of the original work. We're hoping lots of fans play the prototype and can appreciate the work he and his colleagues put into this developing this prototype." Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More News Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 59 Modder dives into Demon's Souls files following PS5 jailbreak, discovers fabled Ring of the Chieftain Who knows what's nexus? 3 Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 10 Latest Articles Preview Football Manager's new Console edition is the best you'll get without a PC Getting Touch-right. Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 59 Modder dives into Demon's Souls files following PS5 jailbreak, discovers fabled Ring of the Chieftain Who knows what's nexus? 3 Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store