Can Publishers Delete Old Games?

[STBiLL]

As most of you know there are games that have gotten delisted over the years. If you own the game then you get to keep it but no one can buy it again on Steam. As far as I know, games can not be deleted from the store unless they are breaking a law.

I read an article by Ubisoft that people should expect to buy a licence for modern games which would expire some time in the future instead of permanently owning your games.

Now, as I am not interested in games made-for-a-modern-audience™️ I couldn't care less but I am worried if they sell poorly, publishers might not just delist but start deleting their old games from the store as an incentive for old customers to buy the new product.

Is there a Steam policy that prevents that or could we one day wake up and find our library half empty?

[✨Saint✨]

You wont have to be afraid to find an empty library; there are plenty of laws in place on Steam, international and national that protects the consumer in many ways.

[J4MESOX4D]

Originally posted by STBiLL:

Is there a Steam policy that prevents that or could we one day wake up and find our library half empty?

There are none. Your library will remain intact but whether the games can be accessed is another story. You don't actually own your games either - you are merely buying a licence to play the game in the state it is currently in. A company can remove a game from sale and shut down the servers rendering it inaccessible without notice and there are no penalties for doing such a thing. Ubisoft did this with The Crew which is shutting down permanently next month and cannot be played again even with the game remaining in people's libraries. There has also been stacks of games over the years which have been left unsupported and cannot be played due to server shut downs.

Sony have also removed paid products from users accounts on Playstation and this will likely expand to other services as publishers don't want to pay for extended licences. The majority of games will be fine though but live services and ones always online are most likely to suffer such fates.

[Kargor]

They sure can update the game to not have the game anymore and just give you a "The license has expired" window...

[Crazy Tiger]

Originally posted by ✨Saint✨:

You wont have to be afraid to find an empty library; there are plenty of laws in place on Steam, international and national that protects the consumer in many ways.

:saint:

You mean those same laws that allow Apple to remove games and apps from a persons purchase list, causing them to not be downloadable afterwards?

[✨Saint✨]

Originally posted by Crazy Tiger:

Originally posted by ✨Saint✨:

You wont have to be afraid to find an empty library; there are plenty of laws in place on Steam, international and national that protects the consumer in many ways.

You mean those same laws that allow Apple to remove games and apps from a persons purchase list, causing them to not be downloadable afterwards?

Luckily, Apple is not Steam.

[Chika Ogiue]

Originally posted by STBiLL:

Can Publishers Delete Old Games?

The simple answer is that yes, they can.

But it rarely happens.

When publishers do this it tends to cause a lot of (justified) outrage. I know of one instance where a game was removed only for the publisher to rescind following that outrage, and restore the game to people's libraries.

[washu73]

Originally posted by Chika Ogiue:

Originally posted by STBiLL:

Can Publishers Delete Old Games?

The simple answer is that yes, they can.

But it rarely happens.

When publishers do this it tends to cause a lot of (justified) outrage. I know of one instance where a game was removed only for the publisher to rescind following that outrage, and restore the game to people's libraries.

Which game was that?

[Crazy Tiger]

Originally posted by ✨Saint✨:

Originally posted by Crazy Tiger:

You mean those same laws that allow Apple to remove games and apps from a persons purchase list, causing them to not be downloadable afterwards?

Luckily, Apple is not Steam.

:saint:

Sure, most don't do it like Apple But that doesn't change that games can be pulled whenever the developer, publisher or platform wants it.

[✨Saint✨]

Originally posted by Crazy Tiger:

Originally posted by ✨Saint✨:

Luckily, Apple is not Steam.

Sure, most don't do it like Apple But that doesn't change that games can be pulled whenever the developer, publisher or platform wants it.

I do not think developers and publishers want to get a "bad reputation" by pulling out a game, but sure, they can, but not without a form of repercussion from the consumer.
And not all is written in laws and rules, some things are just part of norms and values.

[Crazy Tiger]

Originally posted by ✨Saint✨:

Originally posted by Crazy Tiger:

Sure, most don't do it like Apple But that doesn't change that games can be pulled whenever the developer, publisher or platform wants it.

I do not think developers and publishers want to get a "bad reputation" by pulling out a game, but sure, they can, but not without a form of repercussion from the consumer.
And not all is written in laws and rules, some things are just part of norms and values.

:saint:

The forums are full of things people thought companies wouldn't want to get a "bad reputation" for. Reality is that if it serves them, they'll risk it.

Not that I'm expecting such things to happen on Steam anytime soon, or much at all, mind. But it still doesn't change that the answer to OPs question is "yes, they could if they wanted to".

[Chika Ogiue]

Originally posted by washu73:

Which game was that?

I don't recall which game was removed and then returned to libraries. It was many years ago. But a cursory search also reveals that Order Of War: Challenge was removed from libraries and not returned. The reasoning behind the removal being that it was online only and once the servers shut down it was unplayable. But that too, caused a stink.

Other games that have shut down since and become unplayable for similar reasons, such as Gods and Heroes Rome Rising and Darkspore were not removed from libraries. Probably because Valve don't like dealing with angry customers when it happens.

[Wolfpig]

Originally posted by Chika Ogiue:

Other games that have shut down since and become unplayable for similar reasons, such as Gods and Heroes Rome Rising and Darkspore were not removed from libraries. Probably because Valve don't like dealing with angry customers when it happens.

It is more likely that the publishers do not care if a dead game, which can not be played anymore is lying around in customers libraries.

It is the same with games which are still sold on the store, but the developers/Publishers long gone.
If whoever owns the rights to it does not remove it themself it will be available forever with whatever earnings it might make may sitting in limbo.

[Chika Ogiue]

Originally posted by Wolfpig:

It is more likely that the publishers do not care if a dead game, which can not be played anymore is lying around in customers libraries.

We know this to not be the case at least for Darkspore. It was removed from Origin libraries.

[Start_Running]

Originally posted by STBiLL:

As most of you know there are games that have gotten delisted over the years. If you own the game then you get to keep it but no one can buy it again on Steam. As far as I know, games can not be deleted from the store unless they are breaking a law.

This is correct

Originally posted by STBiLL:

I read an article by Ubisoft that people should expect to buy a licence for modern games which would expire some time in the future instead of permanently owning your games.

This does not surprise me. if Ubisoft wants to do that then they are free to.

Originally posted by STBiLL:

Now, as I am not interested in games made-for-a-modern-audience™️ I couldn't care less but I am worried if they sell poorly, publishers might not just delist but start deleting their old games from the store as an incentive for old customers to buy the new product.

If they are sold under permanent license then no they can't yank the games out of your account like that. What they woul;d likely do is that they would change the sales terms going forward from a particular date so that all new purchases come under the temp license

Originally posted by STBiLL:

Is there a Steam policy that prevents that or could we one day wake up and find our library half empty?

It's not even a Steam Policy but basic consumer law.

[Wolfpig]

Originally posted by Start_Running:

If they are sold under permanent license then no they can't yank the games out of your account like that. What they woul;d likely do is that they would change the sales terms going forward from a particular date so that all new purchases come under the temp license

Im not sure as i would have to look in the licenses of each game, but most should have something written in it that they grant you a limited revocable license.
There probably is not a single publisher out there which gives out permanent ones....