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Warner Bros. is now erasing games as it plans to delist Adult Swim-published titles (www.polygon.com)

submitted 1 year ago by Ninjazzon@infosec.pub to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com

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Warner Bros. Discovery is telling developers it plans to start “retiring” games published by its Adult Swim Games label, game makers who worked with the publisher tell Polygon. At least three games are under threat of being removed from Steam and other digital stores, with the fate of other games published by Adult Swim unclear.

The media conglomerate’s planned removal of those games echoes cuts from its film and television business; Warner Bros. Discovery infamously scrapped plans to release nearly complete movies Batgirl and Coyote vs. Acme, and removed multiple series from its streaming services. If Warner Bros. does go through with plans to delist Adult Swim’s games from Steam and digital console stores, 18 or more games could be affected.

News of the Warner Bros. plan to potentially pull Adult Swim’s games from Steam and the PlayStation Store was first reported by developer Owen Reedy, who released puzzle-adventure game Small Radios Big Televisions through the label in 2016. Reedy said on X Tuesday the game was being “retired” by Adult Swim Games’ owner. He responded to the company’s decision by making the Windows PC version of Small Radios Big Televisions available to download for free from his studio’s website.

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[-] TommySoda@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago

Not sure whether they will remove it entirely or just delist it. I love Steam and the convenience of it and the majority of my games are on Steam. But this is why we should be able to own our games. You never know when your favorite game decides to do something like this.

[-] catloaf@lemm.ee 27 points 1 year ago

I don't think any games have been completely removed from Steam. In cases like this, they stop new purchases, but anyone who already has it keeps it.

[-] s38b35M5@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

This comment seems to imply that at least some titles won't function after the delisting, perhaps related to servers, perhaps not.

[-] jabathekek@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 year ago

AFAIK none of my steam games are only accessible through steam servers. All of my games are installed on-site in my HDD and I really don't think Steam can uninstall them without my knowledge or consent. E.g. I can play any one of my games without an internet connection.

[-] catloaf@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

Any game that uses Steamworks or other DRM will not be playable offline (without first putting Steam into offline mode, for Steamworks games, maybe others).

[-] haui_lemmy@lemmy.giftedmc.com 4 points 1 year ago

The largest issue is resale imo. If a game just isnt for me, I should be able to resell it. I hope the EU goes after this topic in the future.

[-] Ganbat@lemmyonline.com 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The problem is, that doesn't make sense for digital media. A large part of resales is media degradation. You pay less, but you take a risk upon yourself for it. Being able to refund a game that isn't for you seems fair, though.

[-] haui_lemmy@lemmy.giftedmc.com 9 points 1 year ago

I keep hearing the most out of touch arguments for not owning what you buy, this being one of them.

Again, you buy something, you own it. I dont give a damn what the company thinks about that and if „resale“ works well or not. I buy game, after use, I sell it. Returning a game that isnt for you is separate.

[-] Ptsf@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You bought an exclusive license to play their game, they retain ownership of the digital information and in some cases the actual physical media. Actual ownership has been 'dead' for a long time now. I don't like it. Yes, buy elsewhere if you can but we're already past the point of consumers being able to influence this outcome with companies legally able to redefine "own" and "buy" via their ToS (not really visible to the consumer) to mean whatever best suits them.

[-] haui_lemmy@lemmy.giftedmc.com 3 points 1 year ago

I dont know why you feel the need to elaborate on this. I didnt ask. I know that this exists and it should be illegal. As I said, I hope the EU goes after this hard.

Also, the DMA is a big fuck you to all the „vote with your feet“ folks that try to shift blame to consumers. „No, it was actually the company responsible“. I loved that and hope this will go on.