When a game gets delisted from Steam, it can essentially be considered to be wiped from the internet in most cases. Since Steam is such a big platform for games on PC if your game is no longer available there, then almost no one will be able to hear about it on a large scale. This would make you think that a game being delisted from Steam would be a much bigger deal, with plenty of people talking about it and many more trying to work to preserve it in some way. But most of the time, a game gets quietly delisted on Steam, and no one bats an eye. This is the case for the most recently delisted game, Spec Ops: The Line. Let’s go over some of the most shocking delisted games you can no longer find on Steam.
1. Spec Ops: The Line
To start off our list we have one of the most recent delisted games, Spec Ops: The Line. A true cult classic game that was kept alive through the sheer shock factor of the story. If you have never played it, you are in for quite a shock if you manage to get your hands on it. While the gameplay is nothing special, the twists in the story are what placed this game firmly in the minds of any gamers who played it.
While the delisting was quite sudden and without explanation, the publishers have since spoken out about why Spec Ops: The Line was taken down. An official statement from 2K Games cited an expiration of multiple license agreements as the cause for Spec Ops being taken down. While this does make sense, it doesn’t make the loss of a true cult classic any less painful.
2. Fable 3
The final game in the Fable franchise might not be the most popular but the game being delisted will make trilogy speedruns much harder for any PC players. Although the game did not win the Game of the Year award, it is still an important part of the Fable trilogy that is gone from the Steam storefront forever.
The reason behind Fable 3 being delisted is a tragedy that has befallen many older games on PC. Games For Windows Live shutdown rendered Fable 3 unpurchaseable on any platform that was telling the game. This is because the Games For Windows Live service was used to generate keys for the game and the DLC anytime it was purchased. With the closure of the platform, no more keys could be generated and thus Fable 3 had to be delisted since you were paying for nothing.
3. Titanfall
The slow and painful death of the original Titanfall is well documented and many who remember it will know that Titanfall 2 is close to suffering a similar fate. Despite constant DDoS attacks rendering the servers for Titanfall unplayable. While the community lamented over not being able to play the game, Respawn put out an announcement that it was set to be pulled from storefronts and subscription services soon.
Although no reason for the delisting was given during the announcement, many fans have pieced together various reasons over the years. The major reason was that the game was unplayable due to constant DDoS attacks. During these DDoS attacks, another DDoS attack was done on Apex Legends with the group doing it proclaiming that Titanfall needed to be saved. That didn’t put the Titanfall community in the best light, which makes it easy to see why the EA might make the call to delist the game.
4. Deadpool
A 4th wall-breaking comedic experience, Deadpool the video game still gets brought up to this day in memes. The countless quips of Wade Wilson and the two voices in his head alongside the various events in the game forever changed the internet. This is also one of the few games that has been delisted twice.
While it may have been delisted twice, the reason for each delisting is the same and an all too common reason. Activision’s license to use Deadpool and the other various characters in the game expired. The game being brought back from delisting once was quite shocking. It showed that Activision thought the game would sell enough to pay for the license renewal. However, the second delisting was the nail in the coffin for Deadpool as the game has not been brought back since.
5. WWE 2K22
Looking back at any of the WWE titles since 2008 will show you a tragic list of yearly delistings as almost every WWE game since 2008 has been delisted a few years after its release. However, WWE 2K22 is especially concerning since the game was only out for 2 years before being delisted and hidden.
The reason for any of these games has never been given by any of the publishers. The only guess the community can make is older games are delisted due to licensing agreements with the wrestlers depicted in the games or to drive traffic toward the latest release by slowly killing the community for older games. Regardless of the reason, it seems like the delistings will not be stopping anytime soon.
6. Evolve
Another 2K published game, Evolve was one of the spearhead games for the Xbox One and PS4 generation of consoles. One of the earlier 4v1 games to hit the scene, Evolve brought with it an interesting twist to the idea by having the single player start off weak and get stronger as the match went on. Slowly turning the hunters into the hunted.
Like many other delisted games, the true reason behind Evolve’s delisting is not known to the public. Looking back at the game, you can see that the plan to delist it had been in the works for a while as the game went entirely free-to-play with no way for it to make any money at all. Although the game was delisted, there was a brief period where peer-to-peer matchmaking worked for anyone who owned the game, but now the game is fully offline.
7. Battlefield: Bad Company 2
You might be shocked to find out that the game considered to be one of the greatest multiplayer shooters of all time would be delisted. Bad Company 2 was so popular and no one, not even the developers, could understand why to this day. Which makes the game being delisted all the more confusing.
Sadly, the reason Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was delisted is quite simple. The servers for many of the older Battlefield games were taken down and the cutoff ended after Bad Company 2. While the development team did put out a heartfelt statement about having to close the serves for many of their older games, fans took the closure of Bad Company 2 the hardest.
8. Blacklight: Retribution
Anyone looking for free-to-play games to play during the late 2000s and early 2010s might remember this little gem of a game. Although Blacklight: Retribution was a sequel, it truly made its own mark apart from its predecessor. Featuring wallhacks instead of a minimap, many Steam players enjoy spending time in this game which made the closure and delisting of the game all the harder.
With the announcement of the closure of the servers and subsequent delisting of the game, the developers cited a lack of manpower to be the reason Blacklight: Retribution would come to a close. The developers wanted to put more manpower toward other projects and thus could no longer support the game. While the game was shut down on PC and delisted on Steam, it is still available and playable to this day on PlayStation consoles.
9. Defiance & Defiance 2050
It is quite rare to see a game be shut down, remade, and then shut down again but Defiance somehow managed to pull it off. What was originally a tie-in MMO for a TV series, Defiance did make a bit of a name for itself in the MMO scene. However, it never found the proper footing that was expected since many people didn’t know about the TV series or care about the game if they watched the show. After a re-launch under a new name, the game still couldn’t find much success.
The developers of both Defiance and Defiance 2050 cited that the lack of players and tighter budgets are what led to both games being shut down and delisted. This statement does seem to hold if you were to go look at player charts for both games leading up to their shutdown.
These are just a few of the bigger-name games that have been delisted and shut down over the years. There are still countless other games that have been delisted and even more games join that list every day. In the day and age of digital media and no physical copies, a delisting is as good as erasure from the internet. So always enjoy the games you play while you still can.
