Cooking Mama: Cookstar has been embroiled in some of the weirdest gaming drama this year. It launched in March only to be quickly removed from the eShop. Physical copies quickly disappeared as well. Due to a strange press release and poorly optimized game, many believed the game included cryptocurrency mining. That turned out not to be the case.

So what exactly caused Cooking Mama: Cookstar to be suddenly revoked from official sales? According to the Cooking Mama IP holder Office Create, the game was released without their authorization. At the start, Office Create licensed Planet Entertainment to make Cooking Mama: Cookstar. It seemed like just another business deal. However, the game builds did not meet Office Create's quality standards. Instead of fixing the game, Planet Entertainment eventually launched the game as is.  The publicly published build did not receive the go-ahead from Office Create.

Further, Planet Entertainment advertised a PS4 version of the game. Nowhere in their contract was a PS4 version even referenced! Office Create is now evaluating how to proceed with regards to legal action after terminating the license with Planet Entertainment.

Update: Cooking Mama: Cookstar publisher Planet Entertainment have provided their own response to the situation. They state that the game fully conformed to the licensing agreement with Office Create. They instead cite creative differences as the cause of all this trouble. They assert their contractual right to publish Cooking Mama: Cookstar. Notably, they do not address the issues Office Create brought up (quality standards or PS4 version).