New Zealand streamer Quin69 recently played through all available chapters of indie RPG Heartbound on his stream, offering positive feedback about the game’s story and gameplay. Despite his genuine enjoyment, the game’s developer Jason Thor Hall, known online as PirateSoftware, launched into a public criticism of Quin69 during his own stream.
The misunderstanding started with a single viewer who told PirateSoftware that Quin69 was “hateplaying” Heartbound to generate drama. Without verifying this claim, PirateSoftware expressed anger and frustration toward Quin69, accusing him of playing the game only to create negativity.
In reality, Quin69 had completed all currently available content in the narrative-driven RPG and predominantly praised the game, particularly highlighting its storytelling elements. His playthrough showed no signs of malicious intent or drama-seeking behavior that PirateSoftware claimed.
Heartbound itself remains stuck in extended development. Originally released in early access in 2018, the game has gained support for its unique visual style and emotional storytelling, drawing comparisons to titles like Undertale. However, major chapters remain unreleased years later, frustrating parts of its fanbase.
This kind of thing isn’t new. PirateSoftware has developed a reputation for responding harshly to criticism, and often bans critical users from his Discord server and other online spaces. As a former Blizzard employee, Hall often brings up his game dev experience during his long streaming sessions where he mixes working on Heartbound with content creation.
