Archive link: https://archive.ph/168Vn

There are now several games known to be getting delisted by WBD. I will link to the article with the list at the end

Some key highlights:

Warner Bros. Discovery, as part of its ongoing effort to stretch the definition of “entertainment company,” recently told a solo indie developer it would be “retiring” his 2016 dreamlike puzzle adventure game Small Radios Big Televisions from the Steam and PlayStation stores. The developer, in response, has made it free to download for PC

Deery clarified that the game will be pulled in the next 60 days. Deery noted that Adult Swim Games “hasn’t really been a thing for many years now” and that most of the people he worked with had moved on. “When you’re working with purely digital products nothing is going to stay around for very long,” Deery told Game Developer.

The reason given by Warner Bros. Discovery, as seen in the notice that Game Developer also reviewed, was “internal business changes.” “Thank you for your contribution to our game library and understanding during this transition,” the notice concludes. “We are available should you have any questions.”

Warner Bros. Discovery executives said late last month during a financial call that its gaming business was due for a “tough” year-over-year comparison. That is largely due to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

At a higher level, the merged Warner Bros. Discovery entity has shown no hesitation when it comes to folding known names and removing content. The firm killed the fully produced Batgirl and a Scooby-Doo film prior to release as a reported tax strategy.

It’s hard to imagine how much it would cost to maintain storefront support for this sub-$20 game from 2016, but it was apparently too much for Warner Bros. Discovery.

The list of Adult Swim games can be found here: https://delistedgames.com/as-more-developers-confirm-it-looks-likely-that-all-adult-swim-games-titles-will-be-removed-by-may/ (Archive link: https://archive.ph/fjt3Q)

  • JohnEdwa
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    10 months ago

    Stardew Valley was published by the developer themselves. He can do whatever he wants with the game and there is no publisher to tell him he can’t because it’s bad for business. If they want the next update to be the “Fuck Russia, fuck Israel, Taiwan is the real China!” update, they can do it. Cp2077 can do that too. Because they are independent.

    D’ya think that goes for the games in question of the article published by Warner Brothers that are being pulled by them? Are they independent of the publishers, free to do what the creator wants?

    That is why having just the two labels makes them rather useless. Which is the point I’m trying to make.

    • tyler@programming.dev
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      9 months ago

      Stardew was published by chucklefish in the beginning, it was not published by Eric. He publishes it himself now, but that was not true several years ago.

      Your point is dumb, I’m sorry.