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- EA has delisted 6 Codemasters titles on Steam just recently.
- The games were removed at the publisher’s request without any warning.
- EA has not put out any statement regarding this matter.
Game preservation has been a hot topic in the gaming world for quite some time now. Players worldwide have raised concerns about handling older titles on digital platforms.
With physical media also being phased out over time, these concerns will only gain more weight despite efforts from PlayStation and Xbox.
Publishers can delist a title at any time, with The Day Before and F1 2020, among other sports titles, being some examples. Now, EA has pulled several classic games from Steam without any announcement.
Why it matters: Companies removing games like this will make them inaccessible, leading to them being lost in art forms.
Multiple games developed by Codemasters were recently delisted on Steam without any previous warning from EA. These were all classic titles that Codemasters developed and published before its acquisition. But they all fall under the care of EA, as it now owns the entire gaming catalogue of Codemasters.
Damnation, Hospital Tycoon, Maelstrom, Rise of the Argonauts, Toybox Turbos, and Operation Flashpoint are the names of these games axed by EA. Only the last two titles in the list were developed by Codemasters, but it did publish all of the games as mentioned earlier, and their disappearance without warning is confusing.
Furthermore, the publisher personally requested the removal of these games as an “app_retired_publisher_request” error shows up when you try to access them on Steam. All the axed titles were on the GOG Dreamlist of titles fans wanted to see preserved, meaning there was demand among players.
This brings our attention to the serious issue of game preservation and how flimsy licenses and low sales shouldn’t result in a game disappearing forever. In addition, EA has been on thin ice recently with some microtransaction debacles and the failure of Dragon Age Veilguard, which only worsens the publisher’s standing among fans.
Do you think games should be delisted like this? Tell us in the comments below or head to the Tech4Gamers forum for discussion.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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