About one of my favorite racing games of all time: "The game could have been removed for a number of reasons, including the closure of developer Bizarre Creations in early 2011, but the most likely cause was expired licensing of the real-world cars featured in the game."[1]
To me this is one of the most egregious examples of how licensing massively hurts consumers. The game is fully playable offline (and online with a patch) but cannot legally be sold because of an arbitrary restriction limiting the use of likeness of virtual cars in the game.
Wow this looks pretty rad, I wish I knew about it before! Having real cars in the game really makes it more fun to me. I dunno why, but playing racing games with a bunch of fake cars isn't as exciting (Super Mario Kart being an exception). It's especially fun when you see one of your cars, or a friend's car in the game.
It becomes a moral imperative to pirate it and continue seeding it for others to also acquire, as a mean to help preserving something you cared about, apparently more than the owners of the IP/rights themselves care.
yeah, that's the whole point, thye still let you install the games you bought because not doing so would open a huge can of worms and re-start the whole "are you really buying games on steam or just renting them?" discussion, which they are very keen on avoiding
It's funny that 3 different Space Hulk games are here.
I actually thought Space Hulk (2013) was amazing but it's hard for a developer to keep up the yearly license payments on any Warhammer franchise. So it's not available for purchase anymore. It got ~75% on reviews on release but i like the board game and it was true to the board game so i personally loved it. Link on the steam store (the site should have these) https://store.steampowered.com/app/242570/Space_Hulk/
Fwiw if you have one of these games they are still in your Steam library. I still get to play the above game. I just can't easily play with others anymore nor can i suggest they purchase that game. I'm a little surprised it still runs fine given no updates but yay for backwards compatibility.
In general a theme for lists like these are licensing. If a developer has to pay a franchise licensing fee it's going to stop being worthwhile at some point. Take note if you're a developer. It's hard to get visibility without being tied to a franchise (Eg. Larian had to do it with Baldurs Gate 3) but it'll cut into profits massively. Even Larian are never doing it again.
Henry Cavill would have words with you. There are some extremely die-hard fans in the U.K. just like there are die hard fans of Star Wars here in the US.
I doubt the 40K universe will die any time soon, it has many fans and they are hardcore about it. And it's becoming more and more mainstream (relatively).
Great game, with some innovative level design involving portals and gravity manipulation. Delisted back in 2009 and impossible to acquire legally to this day on PC.
There's a set of licensed music in the game that's likely another reason too sadly. Pretty unique game for the time and I'd redeemed it on Steam from the cd key in a used physical copy I bought dirt cheap.
I've got this game in my steam library, and I wondered why no one ever talks about it. I never realized it was delisted and made impossible to buy so long ago.
Until I looked it up, I almost thought my memory of it was the Bernstein effect especially since there’s a 2017 game by the same name and much more popular.
The sequel to Prey (2006) was stuck in development hell for really long until they finally scrapped it, so the publisher placed the trademark on a completely different but similarly themed game instead.
Mostly seems to be games where the licensing deal expired or the company folded. I was expecting to see a few more from the adult category that got delisted because someone noticed TOS violating material and reported it.
There was a recent video about Horses, which admittedly was a pre-release, but was technically available for download and is now gone. It is not on this list.
Idk how common it is anymore, but one game (which seems to be missing from this list) I know was removed from Steam after the early access launch from a Kickstarter campaign. The developers essentially quickly ghosted the game after the EA, considering the Kickstarter complete and taking their money. It was seen as a pretty big scandal in the early days when we had some standards.
I initially assumed this was related to the delisting of NSFW related games on Steam due to payment processor pressure as a result of the Australian group Collective Shout.
It's all gaming history and a sadly-overlooked part of "Stop Killing Games".
The worst part is the licenses that do exist are non-transferrable, so by the end of this century there will be zero licenses left for these games. They'll just be expunged until they become public domain perhaps in the middle of the next century - if any copies survive.
And what's sad about that is we know for a fact games can survive and be enjoyed for decades, because we have seen this occur for the entire lineage of game-playing machines.
That presumes you can find someone to agree to those terms (which you won't), and if they do, that it isn't a prohibitively expensive fee (which it would be).
At least the GTA games and metro 2033 are still available for purchase on steam, just the remastered versions. When they released those, the older versions were delisted
I was surprised to see that StarForge wasn't on this list, and after looking into it I think it's because after it was delisted someone else published another game named StarForge. I wonder how common that is.
What are the uniqueness requirements for titles, For the most part people are reasonable and don't want to stomp on each others names. however there are bad actors and this is usually where trademark law comes into play to help protect the name, but does steam impose additional uniqueness constraints on top of this?
That might be a fun list, games with the same name.
I'm sad that Platine Dispositif pulled their games. Chelsea Has to Beat the Seven Devils to Death (known more widely in English as Bunny Must Die) was a lot of fun and one day I'd like to play some of their others, but they mostly seem to just release on Switch and Playstation stores in recent years. Their site[1] is getting pretty bitrotted, and their blog has an entry from a month ago[2] talking about their next game displayed in Digital Games Expo 2025. I don't immediately see any mention of Steam or intent to return anywhere.
Ahh, there seems to be a distinction between "delisted" and "purchase disabled". This is a list of all games which are no longer available on steam along with the reason: https://steam-tracker.com/
The older Metro games are of note, while they're available as the Redux versions there are a surprising number of non-graphical differences between the original THQ published versions and the graphical updates.
Seems to have delisted but not unlisted games (e.g. https://store.steampowered.com/app/302850/Team_Indie/ "At the request of the publisher, Team Indie is unlisted on the Steam store and will not appear in search.")
Lost Planet 2 was delisted in 2021 because it can't be played without patching out Games for Windows Live.
The delisting was supposed to be temporary until Capcom removed the dependency, like they did with other titles on the same engine, but so far they haven't bothered restoring this one.
This can’t be all of them. My business partner and I delisted our tiny (unsuccessful) indie game after we wound up our company and our game doesn’t show up here.
Ultimately, all the datasets on Steam are scraped one way or another, since Steam themselves don't seem to publish it. I could be that they simply never came across your project before you delisted it, and of course after delisiting it I don't think they'll ever come across it.
The nice move in this scenario would have been to make the game free instead of delisting. Gamers can still enjoy it, and you don't have to worry about income once the company is closed.
"This is a place for those who have a moderately large collection of removed games (games no longer available for purchase on steam) to gather. For most, this group will just be about the name, showing off that you own what others no longer can. For others, it can be a resource to find what you once believed could no longer be found."
I loved Blacklight Retribution. It's been so long delisted that my most unique achievements from it disappeared from my profile. One was 0.01% of all players.
It's surprising that it doesn't seem like the X-ray mechanic (which is the main thing I remember from that game) was really picked up by any other game. There were way fewer cheating accusations than in other games, because what would normally be a "cheat" was a core game mechanic, and IMO that made it really enjoyable. It's a shame that game died.
Transformers: War For Cybertron, Fall of Cybertron, and (especially) Devastation.
Three games I will cherish in my Steam Library (and my physical PS3 copy of War for Cybertron). Anything Transformers based since these have been mediocre at best.
Jesus I thought it'd be obscure games but I randomly scrolled down and saw Duke Nukem games, a bunch of the F1 series, Jet Set Radio, Lumines, Mafia III, MultiVersus (don't care about this I just remember _so many_ people being paid to stream this, there was a lot of money behind it) and Wolfenstein (2009). I had no idea this was so prevalent
No, the games just disappear from the shop and can no longer be bought via Steam. When you are already own them, you keep them. Third party seller might sometimes also still sell remaining Steam Key inventory and thus offer a way to activate a delisted game on Steam.
One area where content can disappear is music licenses, those often don't result in a complete delisting of the game, but just the music getting patched out of the game. In those cases, the music would be gone for everybody, as Steam game updates are mandatory and you can't downgrade the game to a previous version either. Unofficial mods will sometimes address this issue and add the music back in.
> Steam game updates are mandatory and you can't downgrade the game to a previous version either.
For Crusader Kings III, the old versions are listed as betas (cog -> properties -> betas) so you downgrade by "signing up to a beta".
I don't know if it's a common practice but pretty damn necessary for paradox games. A single game might take months and their attitude to backwards compatibility is "new versions will corrupt your game files in ways that only subtly reveal themselves like noticing the King of England owns a county in Mongolia before reaching a game year that will always crash".
The are delisted for purchase but still available to download from Steam’s CDN for the Steam client. I own 3 delisted Transformers games but was able to reinstall them recently.
Tangentially related but even though the Nintendo 3DS e-shop has been shutdown for years you can still download your purchased games through your download history.
I was very happy just last week I was able to redownload Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate for my 3DS despite the store being down.
It gives me at least a little bit of confidence that having some games as part of a digital library on the Switch and Switch 2 will be easily available for the foreseeable future.
This site has a tag for games that get relisted, but it really needs one for games that got remastered as well. It's a bit misleading to say a game is gone when you can still buy the GOTY version.
Really, it would be nice if every listing had a 1 or 2 word tag that summarized the reason for the de-listing.
I bought my 2 yo a copy of Rocket League when they announced it would only be available through Epic (no Linux support) once it went F2P, just in case he was going to get into it. Best game in the world, but I'm not subjecting myself, or my kid, to Windows and the Epic store just to get at it.
I'm quite surprised Epic hasn't done something to kill off the Steam version yet, but I expect the recent bot problem is going to give them the "justification" they need to put EAC in it. Even if it "works" on Linux after that, I'll be in constant fear that my account, with hundreds of dollars into the game, will get banned without recourse.
> Best game in the world, but I'm not subjecting myself, or my kid, to Windows and the Epic store just to get at it.
Quite right! I really don't blame you, given the direction that Windows has taken in the last decade, and especially the last few years. The LLM integration is bad enough (Kids and LLMs should not mix, IMHO), but he adverts in the start menu could be anything. I've had some very explicit 18+ adverts on a social media platform twice this week, despite not engaging with that kind of thing at all, and the best I could do was report them.
> I'm quite surprised Epic hasn't done something to kill off the Steam version yet, but I expect the recent bot problem is going to give them the "justification" they need to put EAC in it. Even if it "works" on Linux after that, I'll be in constant fear that my account, with hundreds of dollars into the game, will get banned without recourse.
For what it's worth, Easy Anti-Cheat is supported and doesn't ban you for using Linux.
subjecting myself, or my kid, to Windows and the Epic store just to get at it.
Subjecting is a weird word choice here considering most of us rely on using Windows in some fashion in our education or work. Which OS or store you use is not your identity and EGS takes a significantly smaller cut from developers, so I prefer to buy there when I can as I don't care for social features from Steam aside from the workshop on some games.
When you bought a game and it becomes unavailable, due to delisting, you care.
It shows a general problem we have with online license's for movies, series and games. You buy the product and at some point later in time you loose access because something changed outside of your control. This is different from VHS/CD/DVD/BluRays where I can use the product even years after purchasing, despite a company loosing the license or simply not existing anymore.
We should just setup a review portal at the Dept of State, Visa, MasterCard, maybe moms against drunk driving, a few others, and devs can sanity check their game idea before submitting to steam
To me this is one of the most egregious examples of how licensing massively hurts consumers. The game is fully playable offline (and online with a patch) but cannot legally be sold because of an arbitrary restriction limiting the use of likeness of virtual cars in the game.
[1] https://delistedgames.com/blur/
Too bad the only way to get it is by pirating it. But in these situations, doesn't piracy become morally acceptable?
[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EbkSMPbj_I
I actually thought Space Hulk (2013) was amazing but it's hard for a developer to keep up the yearly license payments on any Warhammer franchise. So it's not available for purchase anymore. It got ~75% on reviews on release but i like the board game and it was true to the board game so i personally loved it. Link on the steam store (the site should have these) https://store.steampowered.com/app/242570/Space_Hulk/
Fwiw if you have one of these games they are still in your Steam library. I still get to play the above game. I just can't easily play with others anymore nor can i suggest they purchase that game. I'm a little surprised it still runs fine given no updates but yay for backwards compatibility.
In general a theme for lists like these are licensing. If a developer has to pay a franchise licensing fee it's going to stop being worthwhile at some point. Take note if you're a developer. It's hard to get visibility without being tied to a franchise (Eg. Larian had to do it with Baldurs Gate 3) but it'll cut into profits massively. Even Larian are never doing it again.
everything I've heard since only confirms that that universe would be better dead and never be talked about
Void War game on Steam is a notable one.
I doubt the 40K universe will die any time soon, it has many fans and they are hardcore about it. And it's becoming more and more mainstream (relatively).
Great game, with some innovative level design involving portals and gravity manipulation. Delisted back in 2009 and impossible to acquire legally to this day on PC.
There was a recent video about Horses, which admittedly was a pre-release, but was technically available for download and is now gone. It is not on this list.
1) Server shutdowns for multiplayer or live service games
2) Breakdowns of developer/publisher relations
3) A remastered version of the game was released
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_Shout#2025_Steam_an...
-- Back to the Future: The Game
-- Blur
-- Crysis
-- Dark Souls
-- Dirt 2
-- Dirt 3
-- Dirt Showdown
-- F1 2010 - 2015
-- F1 Race Stars
-- Grand Theft Auto 1, 2, 3, San Andreas, Vice City
-- Grid (2019)
-- Metro 2033
-- Prey (2006)
-- Project CARS
-- ToCA Race Driver 3
-- Transformers: War for Cybertron
-- Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
In most cases the games were delisted because of expiring licenses for cars, tracks, music, or studios being purchased by another studio.
It's a bit sad as I consider Crysis and GTA to be an important part of gaming history.
The worst part is the licenses that do exist are non-transferrable, so by the end of this century there will be zero licenses left for these games. They'll just be expunged until they become public domain perhaps in the middle of the next century - if any copies survive.
And what's sad about that is we know for a fact games can survive and be enjoyed for decades, because we have seen this occur for the entire lineage of game-playing machines.
If you use real brands in your videogame you as a developer need to know that it's on a death clock.
That might be a fun list, games with the same name.
These are in Japanese of course.
[1]: https://www.platinedispositif.net/
[2]: https://murasame.hatenablog.jp/entry/20251130/1764507793
- are they preventing new purchases?
- are they preventing the players who purchased the game prior to the delisting to play them at all?
- both? something else?
The delisting was supposed to be temporary until Capcom removed the dependency, like they did with other titles on the same engine, but so far they haven't bothered restoring this one.
"This is a place for those who have a moderately large collection of removed games (games no longer available for purchase on steam) to gather. For most, this group will just be about the name, showing off that you own what others no longer can. For others, it can be a resource to find what you once believed could no longer be found."
Three games I will cherish in my Steam Library (and my physical PS3 copy of War for Cybertron). Anything Transformers based since these have been mediocre at best.
>Lumines was delisted from Steam on June 22nd, 2018. The delisting coincides with the release of Lumines Remastered just a few days later
So there's a tactic of delisting a game to promote a remastered version.
if i delete it i lose the game right?
One area where content can disappear is music licenses, those often don't result in a complete delisting of the game, but just the music getting patched out of the game. In those cases, the music would be gone for everybody, as Steam game updates are mandatory and you can't downgrade the game to a previous version either. Unofficial mods will sometimes address this issue and add the music back in.
For Crusader Kings III, the old versions are listed as betas (cog -> properties -> betas) so you downgrade by "signing up to a beta".
I don't know if it's a common practice but pretty damn necessary for paradox games. A single game might take months and their attitude to backwards compatibility is "new versions will corrupt your game files in ways that only subtly reveal themselves like noticing the King of England owns a county in Mongolia before reaching a game year that will always crash".
You can usually download old versions from the CDN using tools like steamcmd. Developers can remove the old depots, but usually don't.
Tangentially related but even though the Nintendo 3DS e-shop has been shutdown for years you can still download your purchased games through your download history.
I was very happy just last week I was able to redownload Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate for my 3DS despite the store being down.
It gives me at least a little bit of confidence that having some games as part of a digital library on the Switch and Switch 2 will be easily available for the foreseeable future.
I remember that many games I had in my wishlist became "blank" or removed, and I was unable to know what games were those
That’s actually a case with a lot of games on the list that got a remake, director’s cut, upgraded edition etc.
Really, it would be nice if every listing had a 1 or 2 word tag that summarized the reason for the de-listing.
Publisher Closed
Servers Shut Down
Remastered
License Expired
TOS Violation
That sort of thing.
I'm quite surprised Epic hasn't done something to kill off the Steam version yet, but I expect the recent bot problem is going to give them the "justification" they need to put EAC in it. Even if it "works" on Linux after that, I'll be in constant fear that my account, with hundreds of dollars into the game, will get banned without recourse.
Quite right! I really don't blame you, given the direction that Windows has taken in the last decade, and especially the last few years. The LLM integration is bad enough (Kids and LLMs should not mix, IMHO), but he adverts in the start menu could be anything. I've had some very explicit 18+ adverts on a social media platform twice this week, despite not engaging with that kind of thing at all, and the best I could do was report them.
> I'm quite surprised Epic hasn't done something to kill off the Steam version yet, but I expect the recent bot problem is going to give them the "justification" they need to put EAC in it. Even if it "works" on Linux after that, I'll be in constant fear that my account, with hundreds of dollars into the game, will get banned without recourse.
For what it's worth, Easy Anti-Cheat is supported and doesn't ban you for using Linux.
It shows a general problem we have with online license's for movies, series and games. You buy the product and at some point later in time you loose access because something changed outside of your control. This is different from VHS/CD/DVD/BluRays where I can use the product even years after purchasing, despite a company loosing the license or simply not existing anymore.