Have You Seen This Game? When Games Get Delisted
Introduction
Every vanished title chips away at gaming history. It was a dark night in the digital sprawl, the glow of my Switch screen my only light. I’m Aaron, a bounty hunter of backlog games, running Into The Backlog to unearth gems buried like forgotten cartridges in a thrift store bin. But this case hit hard: games like P.T. and Transformers: Devastation vanished from storefronts, erased like footprints in a rain-soaked alley. They call it delisting, a crime against every gamer with a backlog longer than a Space Pirate’s rap sheet. So, grab your fedora, pal, and let’s step out of the shadows to figure out why these games disappear and how we can keep our backlogs alive—gamer to gamer.
What Does It Mean to be Delisted?
Let’s start out simply. What does it mean to be delisted? Imagine typing Deadpool into Steam today, only to find that nothing appears. A delisted game is one that has been removed from digital storefronts, meaning it is no longer available for purchase through those platforms. This can be for a multitude of reasons, which we’ll discuss later. Whatever the reason, the end result is the same. The delisting of games marks a significant loss for the realm of game preservation, as future gamers will no longer have the ability to purchase and play some of the industry’s best titles.
Why are Games Delisted?
There are several reasons why this can occur, including legal and licensing issues, as well as low sales figures. So, let’s break down some of these reasons and how they can result in a game getting delisted from its respective online platform.
Licensing and copyright issues
Issues with licensing and copyright are the biggest reason. In order to use another’s intellectual property (IP) in this way, there needs to be a bilateral licensing agreement between the two parties. This document will clearly state the IP rights the other party can use and to what extent, as well as outline the compensation structure. These agreements have a set period of time that is covered, and if it expires, it can result in the applicable games being delisted.
Notable examples include:
Deadpool - Released in 2013; Delisted in 2017 due to the expiration of Activision’s license of Deadpool from Marvel.
Transformers: War for Cybertron - Released in 2010; Delisted at the end of 2017 due to license expiration alongside several other titles in the Transformers series (Fall of Cybertron and Devestation).
Ducktales: Remastered - Released in 2013; Delisted in 2019 due to license expiration between Capcom and Disney (Was relisted in 2020 and is currently available).
Reception/Low Player Counts
“If you build it, they will come”—except sometimes players don’t show up. Devs launch games with big dreams only to be greeted with low sales and dwindling player counts. Take Concord, for example. A 2024 multiplayer first-person hero shooter game developed by Firewalk Studios and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Sony reportedly invested $400 million in the development of this game, only for it to attract a mere 697 concurrent players on launch (on Steam, at least).
Another example, Anthem, is heading that way. Developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts, the game was marred by technical issues, a lackluster amount of content, and mixed reviews. These factors resulted in a game that failed to hold players' interest and fell short of EA’s lofty sales projections. And while a gameplay overhaul, dubbed Anthem Next, was in development, it was later halted, with the developers moving on to other projects. The game is still playable for those who currently own it, but it will be sunsetting on January 12, 2026, with the game leaving EA Play on August 15, 2025.
Payment Processors
This last one is something more recent and a bit of a hot topic. On July 16, Valve—the company behind Steam—updated its rules and guidelines for what games and software are not allowed on the platform to include:
“Content that may violate the rules and standards set forth by Steam’s payment processors and related card networks and banks, or internet network providers. In particular, certain kinds of adult-only content.”
This is in addition to existing rules that prohibit “Nude or sexually explicit images of real people” and “Adult content that isn’t appropriately labeled and age-gated.” This move has led to several adult titles being delisted from Steam, leading to gamers and developers alike. Now, this topic is too big and complex for a post like this, but I thought it would be fairly topical to the subject being discussed today.
Again, there are numerous reasons that can result in games being delisted from digital storefronts, but we have gone through all of them; we’d be here all day. So, I’ll push ahead to the real question...
What Can We Do?
Community action and petitions
Community action can play a significant role in discussions about game delistings. The big one currently in the news is Stop Killing Games, which, as they describe themselves, is a “consumer movement started to challenge the legality of publishers destroying video games they have sold to customers. ” I bring them up as an important example of individuals coming together to support a cause that they believe in.
Another example, the Helldivers PSN Account Requirement fiasco. I won't get too in-depth with it, but the long story short is that Sony began enforcing the requirement that to play HellDivers 2, you must have a PlayStation Network (PSN) account. The backlash was immense with issues ranging from not wanting to make a PSN account to play a game on PC to Sony’s past issues with cybersecurity, such as the 2011 hack that exposed 77 million users' data, to the requirement locking players out of playing the game they payed for all because PSN is not supported in their country.
The resulting backlash led Sony to back down and announce that the update to introduce this requirement would not be moving forward. Whether you agree or disagree with the reasons for the revolt, the point remains that when we, as consumers, come together, change is possible.
Game preservation efforts
Organizations
There are numerous organizations dedicated to preserving software, including video games. Some of which include:
Software Preservation Network (SPN): The SPN is a community-driven effort to ensure long-term access to software, including video games, by uniting cultural heritage organizations, academics, industry professionals, and gamers. It champions legal reforms (like DMCA exemptions), sustains open-source tools like EAASI, standardizes metadata for software discovery, and fosters training to build preservation skills. SPN views software as “critical information infrastructure” with cultural value, aiming to preserve it for future access to support research and education, ensuring games like Transformers: Devastation don’t vanish.
EAASI Research Alliance: The EAASI Research Alliance, convened by SPN, is a global network of libraries, archives, and museums that use the Emulation-as-a-Service Infrastructure (EAASI) software to provide browser-based access to digital collections. It explores how EAASI can preserve and share software-dependent content for education and research, making it easier for institutions to offer controlled, legal access to digital heritage.
The Video Game History Foundation: As stated on their website, the foundation is “a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, celebrating, and teaching the history of video games.” This includes creating a digital research library platform filled to the brim with numerous important artifacts from the past. Think Game development materials, artwork, press kits, promotional materials, and so much more! The foundation collaborates with others in the space, such as when the group co-sponsored a study on game availability with SPN or supported the group in a petition that would allow libraries and archives to remotely share digital access to out-of-print video games in their collections.
Emulation
Game emulation has long been recognized as the most effective way to preserve games from the past, despite being in a gray area. I wrote a short piece, my first on the subject of emulation, in fact. What it is, as well as the benefits and drawbacks. To summarize, emulators themselves are not the problem. It is how you go about procuring the games. Using backups of games you own is generally considered acceptable, at least in the eyes of the community. The primary benefit of emulation is that it both preserves these games, which are becoming increasingly scarce, and enhances them, boosting aspects such as performance and graphical fidelity, while also providing features like save states. Emulation serves as a gateway, linking the gaming industry’s past to its future, and providing a way for new players to experience the titles that older generations grew up with.
Game preservation directly addresses issues such as delisting and game scarcity. As players who love these titles, we owe it to them and the developers who crafted them to ensure they remain available for future gamers to enjoy and appreciate.
Conclusion
Whew! That was quite the journey! Writing this has significantly deepened my understanding of game delisting—from its meaning, to the causes behind it, and ultimately, to the actions we can take. There’s far more to this issue than meets the eye, from legal battles and licensing nightmares to the efforts of dedicated communities and organizations fighting to keep our favorite games alive. My desire is that you walk away not only more informed, but also inspired to support game preservation. Even small efforts—such as raising awareness, sharing resources, or simply valuing the games you love—can make a difference. Together, we can help ensure these titles are not lost to time and that future generations have the chance to experience them too.
