In the brutally overcrowded PC games market, attention for smaller indie studios has become the hardest currency. To avoid getting lost among blockbusters and thousands of new releases, the developer studio Collision Games together with publisher Blue Brain Games are now resorting to a quirky and tongue-in-cheek PR stunt: Whoever fully completes their upcoming cleanup and skill game Love Locks first after the release on December 3, 2026, receives up to 5,000 US dollars towards their own wedding – or alternatively, for a divorce.

Magnet fishing in the Seine and lasers against rust: This is what “Love Locks” is about

Content-wise, Love Locks takes on a real phenomenon that in metropolises like Paris has long turned from a romantic cliché into a static and ecological nuisance: thousands of padlocks placed by enamored couples on bridge railings before they throw the key into the river.

In the first-person simulation – clearly inspired by the famous Parisian Pont des Arts – the task is precisely to remove this mountain of metal:

  • 100,000 locks: An entire bridge must be freed from exactly 100,000 love locks – either relaxed in single-player mode or in online co-op with up to four friends, each managing their own progress.

  • Underwater drone deployment: Using a specially equipped magnetic drone, players fish discarded keys from the bottom of the Seine and match them to the appropriate locks.

  • Heavy-duty tools for tough cases: As progress advances, cleanup pros unlock increasingly radical aids – from classic lockpicks and pliers to saws, bolt cutters, angle grinders, and even welding torches and lasers. Humorous flashbacks of the respective relationship stories also appear during lock cracking.

The rules of the 5,000-dollar race: No cheating allowed

To properly celebrate the launch for Windows PC and macOS on Steam, the developers are calling a seven-day race. Anyone who wants to secure the prize must stick to clear rules:

  • Time frame: The competition starts exactly at release on December 3, 2026 and ends on December 10, 2026. Whoever removes all 100,000 locks fastest within this week wins.

  • Fair play clause: For better verification, participants can register their Steam ID and email address in advance on the official website. A mandatory requirement for winning is abstaining from any cheating – whereby the studio winks that this exclusively refers to in-game manipulation: “Your relationship life is none of our business.”

  • Two years to submit receipts: After announcement, the winner has a full two years to submit corresponding receipts for wedding or divorce expenses to Collision Games – whether it is an expensive wedding dress or the bill from a divorce lawyer.

  • Transferable prize: If the fastest speedrunner is already happily married or long divorced, the prize money may be passed on to a family member or friend. Age and residency restrictions apply according to the official competition rules.

Creative guerrilla marketing against the Steam flood

Especially in 2026, a year when Steam releases are increasingly buried under the sheer mass of launches and generative “AI slop,” Collision Games' campaign stands out refreshingly. Instead of relying on generic trailer promises, the studio directly links the central game motif – cutting eternal love vows into scrap metal – with a tongue-in-cheek life aid for the real world.

For the speedrunning community, the starting pistol on December 3 will likely become an unusually lucrative click marathon. And even for players without plans to marry or separate, there remains at least the silent satisfaction of finally leveling a public eyesore of rusty metal to the ground.