Publisher 505 Games has today made the somewhat difficult call of cancelling their sports sim Ashes Cricket 2013, a game that had very briefly been available for purchase on Steam for PC.

Launched on November 22nd and developer by Trickstar Games, the title had come under fire for its quite poor performance, with many customers offering a large amount of negative feedback on the game's forum. 505 Games has offered an official statement on the matter:

As most people who have followed the project closely can affirm, the development of Ashes Cricket 2013 has been fraught with challenges almost from the outset. The chosen developer, even with their many years of cricket game development experience, was unable to overcome the unexpected challenges that the chosen game engine threw up, even with multiple extensions to the development schedule. At the start of the project, 505 Games received all assurances from the developer that the engine was up to the task of creating a dynamic, cutting-edge cricket game for the modern age across multiple platforms, and unfortunately those assurances were found to be misplaced.

“The net result of the challenges we have faced was a game which, despite our best efforts over the course of a two-year development, couldn’t meet the quality benchmarks of either us, our licensors or our customers. 505 Games’ main priority right now is to protect the Ashes name and that of the ECB and Cricket Australia, and do what we can to recompense the cricket community.

As with any branded game, 505 Games has also extended its apologises to the licensors, the ECB and Cricket Australia, and their respective partners/sponsors, "who have been nothing but patient and supportive of us throughout the challenges this project has presented, and who, ultimately, we have let down."

The game was originally planned to be released on June 21st, however 505 Games pushed the game back to November due to the then current state of the game. It's clear that the development cycle for this title wasn't quite what the publisher and investors had in mind, though for those who have purchased the title 505 Games has assured us that you will be contacted shortly with details of a full refund.