Warner Bros. will be delisting four more Adult Swim indie games following changes at Warner Bros. Discovery due to the unavailability of the titles' publishers.
The recent titles that have been affected by the changes are Mega Coin Squad, Super House of Dead Ninjas, Traverser, and Zenzizenzic. Adult Swim posted to all its titles' Steam pages that it was no longer "able to continue as publisher," adding that the games would be "shut down."
Adult Swim Games' Indie Titles
(Photo : Adult Swim Games / Screenshot taken from official website)
The former publisher also said that the developers were not available to take over for the games at this time, noting that the titles will be shut down on July 15, 2024. Warner Bros. Discovery said in May that it was returning the ownership of some indie titles from Adult Swim Games back to their developers.
At the time, the maker of Duck Game, Landon Podbielski, and the developer of Rise & Shine, Super Mega Team, said that they received notice of ownership returning to them.
However, at least one, Bitmap Bureau Ltd, who was responsible for Super House of Dead Ninjas, revealed that they were not contacted, according to Games Industry.
The team responded to messages on social media, telling fans that they were "still active under a new name" and were "more than willing to keep Super House of Dead Ninjas alive."
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the team added that they tried to reach out a couple of times but they did not receive a reply.
Read Also: Nintendo President Addresses Generative AI Use in Game Development
So far, the only title from the latest batch of announced games that will be shutting down this month is Mega Coin Squad. Other titles that could also be affected include Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time, Westerado: Double Barreled, and Headlander.
The situation comes as in other parts of the video game industry, even highly popular games are not completely safe from being delisted, including some Battlefield titles. This comes as Electronic Arts announced that Battlefield 3 and all of its DLC will be delisted, said TrueAchievements.
Delisting of Various Games
Following Adult Swim Games' announcement, all of the titles that were affected have been heavily discounted in the current Steam sale. The studio has been at the center of rumors that it was letting go of its game catalog as it moves away from game publishing.
The situation paints a dark scenario and shows how games are struggling to be preserved for the future. The decision to stop support for any game, whether they are major or minor titles, impacts the work of many creators so that they can provide moments of entertainment.
Another franchise that has been affected by this is the Forza Horizon series which Forza Horizon 4 announced to be delisted in December this year. Developer Playground Games revealed the sad news on the series' blog and explained that the title would be removed from digital platforms on Dec. 15, 2024.
The reasoning behind the decision to delist Forza Horizon 4 from the Microsoft Store and Steam was primarily due to the expiration of licensing agreements, according to GamingBible.
Related Article: New Marvel Rivals Trailer Reveals Web-Slinging Spider Man as Next Addition to Roster