If a publisher removes a title from steam due to copyright reasons,can owners still acess it ?

[legallybrown]

Let's say a publisher's licensing deal with some company expires and they lose the rights to publish that game.

Will the people who have already paid for the said "removed game " still be able to access it or is it gone forever ?

[Ogami]

The game will still be in your library and you can download, install and play it forever with that account.
I own multiple games that are no longer on sale on Steam, for example the 2009 version of "Prey" which got removed from sale in 2011.
Still works fine for me to download and play.
So no worries.

[Muppet among Puppets]

You bought it while it was published.

[Cathulhu]

I have quite a few games where their licenses have expired and the game can no longer be sold. I'm still able to download and play all those games.

[Eldin]

There are two types of removed games on Steam.

1st category:
Removed because expired licence (usually soundtrack), or developer pulled it from Steam for another reason
-These types of games can be downloaded/played and everything works normally same as if they are not removed. Only their store page is removed and they can't be purchased anymore.

2nd category:
Forcefully removed by Valve because developer violated their contract with them, or abused their game in some way, manipulated reviews, etc.
-These games are completely removed from Steam. They won't show on your profile, in recent activity, other people won't see that you own that game, achievements and hours won't count towards showcases, etc.
But you can still see them in your Library and Download/Play them.

[Count_Dandyman]

For most games owners can still access them when they are removed from the store but games that are entirely based on online servers that got shutdown are the exception.