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These will be delisted on July 15th, since transition to devs didn't work:
Zenzizenzic
Traverser
Super House of Dead Ninjas
Mega Coin Squad
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I chuckled when I saw the comments closed to keep from getting spammed by final discount comments.
Too bad three of the game's devs seem to no longer exist and one doesn't want the hassle.
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A chuckle. I feel like I said that above.
Although I obviously have thoughts on the habit of waiting for a game to die before being willing to buy it, then piling on to its death by trying to manipulate the developer into giving them (an often very specific) final discount.
And I note the difference between actual game preservation and the desire to simply have a game in one's library. Actual game preservationists will always suggest the dev make it ftp so everybody can actually experience it whenever they like, if the dev is set on no longer maintaining the game or any financial obligations such as taxes...and that is a winning solution for actual game preservation.
Fake game preservationists pretend it's for preservation, but only want it for their own library and don't actually care about real game preservation. It does increase their removed games e-peen though, so that's something I guess lol.
I also personally know several removed games collectors who simply buy each game they want that is slated for removal at whatever price the dev has set for their final hurrah, and never attempt to manipulate or guilt the developers. I respect those collectors.
There is one last demographic: people who actually are interested in playing some of these games despite their removal, and they show up to make sure they don't miss that opportunity. There's no problem with that obviously.
Hopefully that clears things up for you. :)
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on the habit of waiting for a game to die before being willing to buy it
That wouldn't only imply a bad intention, but also the knowledge of the game's existence beforehand. When it comes to the removal of small barely or poorly reviewed indie games, I highly doubt that. They only learn about these games because of the shared retiring announcement or collector friends' purchases in activity feed. The devs who changed their mind after the collectors' money was cashed in are a starter for a different discussion.
Actual game preservationists will always suggest the dev make it ftp
I absolutely wouldn't mind, but to me it feels like asking too much/begging. Additionally, depending on the reason for the removal it doesn't work, e.g. licensing, dev ashamed of first game development attempts, source code lost, leaving Steam as platform.
While F2P would maximise the possible preservation, a final sale would increase it already.
Regarding e-peen: yes, that is a thing, probably like in every collector's scene. Looking everyday at the ranking, competing, keeping information and sources for themselves, in worst case for reselling. But there are many others, who are organising achievement hunts before shutdowns, sharing all the information they get, developing or maintaining tools for tracking and a lot have just FOMO.
I also personally know several removed games collectors who simply buy each game
Well, we're both in economically strong regions and probably have good jobs, thus it appears easy, but not everyone is that lucky.
Just like Steam's catalogue the amount of delistings increases continuously and the really expensive removed games aren't those with an announcement.
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It's less about bad intentions and more about pure callousness.
The people I know who don't bother the devs with discount requests come from a variety of different countries with a wide range of economic backgrounds.
The achievement hunting you mention, that's a solid thing and ties into actually playing the game(s).
The only part of your comment I fully disagree with is the final sales providing further game preservation. That's not a thing unless the buyers are making the game available to whomever is interested in playing said game(s). Otherwise, it is doing nothing to ensure accessibility and future playability, which is the core of game preservation.
I don't however think our perspectives are particularly far off though. Most of your examples fit into the categories I detailed.
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That's not a thing unless the buyers are making the game available to whomever is interested in playing said game(s). Otherwise, it is doing nothing to ensure accessibility and future playability, which is the core of game preservation.
Given the definition, I agree with you. But then F2P on Steam alone doesn't necessarily mean future playability and I somehow doubt that the digital games museums are grabbing F2P games on Steam. Best would be to provide game files and source code to museums and archive.org.
Of course Steam doesn't allow the buyer to let someone else play a game from their library (besides household). If Valve would figure out that someone provided game files to a museum, they probably would ban them, but more ownership means more spread at least and more opportunities to share screenshots or videos. That doesn't fulfill all requirements for preservation, but it's an improvement of the situation in my eyes.
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With regards to bitHuffel and the game, Zenzizenic. It's possible that Adult Swim is asking for a payment to give the rights back. If that's the case bitHuffel may just not have the money to do it, or feel it's not worth paying the fee.
EDIT:
Also with regards to publisher switches and the games under Adult Swim. From my understanding sometimes the new publisher will give the old publisher money to take over the publishing rights, so this may be the case for the ones that did switch to new publishers.
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That would be an interesting wrinkle, but it would make sense, and is an even greater shame if that is the case.
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Adult Swim more than likely lost a lot of money, and that's likely why they are disolving the publishing company. Requesting a fee to try and recoup some of the lost money would make sense, but like I mentioned it's possible, but who knows.
I also update my original comment concerning publisher switches. I was multitasking and I was going to add that, but forgot, so it's there now.
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Thanks for the heads-up. Traverser looks interesting, so I think I'll grab it. Odd/disappointing that it has no controller support, but oh well.
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Just FYI: the devs behind Super House of Dead Ninjas would like to continue support of their game: https://x.com/BitmapBureau/status/1808263273046847566
There seems to be some confusion on the matter behind this game
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It's unfortunately not that simple: https://delistedgames.com/update-on-adult-swim-titles-4-upcoming-delistings-more-at-risk-but-more-games-saved/
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I've made it free to download here: https://fire-face.com/games/srbt.html
🤔It might be a shame to skip over this line.
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Latest update: 4 games are being removed, see here for more details.
Final update (hopefully?): Looks like the games are being handed back to the devs, great to see.
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/warner-bros-has-decided-not-to-take-its-ball-and-go-home-with-adult-swim-games-instead-returning-control-to-their-original-developers/
UPDATE: Another game facing removal, Fist Puncher. So it seems all of AS's games are in danger.
OP:
https://twitter.com/owendeery/status/1765032553147245010
"WarnerBros Discovery have informed me they will be 'retiring' my game Small Radios Big Televisions from both Steam and PS4 stores.
I've made it free to download here: https://fire-face.com/games/srbt.html
Thanks for all your support."
So, if you want it on Steam, it seems like now's your last chance. The game will be removed from sale "within the next 60 days".
https://store.steampowered.com/app/390040/
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