Sega has insisted the team "didn't mean to dredge up painful memories" with the 'Golden Axed' release.
Golden Axe
The gaming giant has issued a statement after making an unfinished 'Golden Axe' reboot prototype available, after Tim Dawson - one of the game's key staff - described working on the project as "a personal nexus of nightmare hours, inept management, industry realisations and heroics achieved with a small team under unreasonable conditions".
He described it is an "odd feeling to see it surface eight years later without context, credits and with a joke title sequence".
Sega had originally warned potential customers that 'Golden Axed' - which is available on Steam - "may be janky, may be buggy, may be an artefact of its time".
Now, a company spokesperson has told Eurogamer: "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.
"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."