Techland buys Call of Juarez: Gunslinger from Ubisoft

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, the classic spaghetti western-'em-up, has returned to Valve's Steam platform after a month-long absence following the acquisition of rights to the title by developer Techland.

Launched on Steam, the PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in 2013, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger was Techland's attempt at restoring fan faith in the series following the 2011 release of Call of Juarez: Cartel, a game which ditched the franchise's traditional old-western setting in favour of a modern environment - a move fans of the series decried. Received positively by fans and critics alike, the game suddenly disappeared from all digital distributions in March this year when publisher Ubisoft pulled the title for reasons not disclosed.

Now, Techland has confirmed that it has acquired distribution rights to the game - indeed, the entire franchise - from Ubisoft, and has restored the title to Steam under the Techland Publishing arm opened back in 2016.

'Developed by Techland, the Call of Juarez series received a great reception and support from a huge community of players. As Techland Publishing moves forward as a leading publisher, we are delighted to welcome Call of Juarez: Gunslinger to our publishing division,' announced Adam Lasoń late yesterday, effectively explaining why the game had vanished in the first place. 'We would like to thank Ubisoft for its incredible work publishing the Call of Juarez games. We’ll continue the great efforts of Ubisoft and support the fans of the Call of Juarez universe in the same dutiful and passionate way.'

The re-launch of the franchise is, at present, limited to Gunslinger and to Valve's Steam platform. Techland has confirmed that it is negotiating for additional titles in the series and additional distribution platforms, however, promising to share more information at an unspecified later date.