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Warner Bros. is now erasing games as it plans to delist Adult Swim-published titles (www.polygon.com)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

226 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Warner Bros. Discovery is telling developers it plans to start “retiring” games published by its Adult Swim Games label, game makers who worked with the publisher tell Polygon. At least three games are under threat of being removed from Steam and other digital stores, with the fate of other games published by Adult Swim unclear.

The media conglomerate’s planned removal of those games echoes cuts from its film and television business; Warner Bros. Discovery infamously scrapped plans to release nearly complete movies Batgirl and Coyote vs. Acme, and removed multiple series from its streaming services. If Warner Bros. does go through with plans to delist Adult Swim’s games from Steam and digital console stores, 18 or more games could be affected.

News of the Warner Bros. plan to potentially pull Adult Swim’s games from Steam and the PlayStation Store was first reported by developer Owen Reedy, who released puzzle-adventure game Small Radios Big Televisions through the label in 2016. Reedy said on X Tuesday the game was being “retired” by Adult Swim Games’ owner. He responded to the company’s decision by making the Windows PC version of Small Radios Big Televisions available to download for free from his studio’s website.

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[–] [email protected] 131 points 9 months ago (4 children)

I've never encountered a better argument for piracy and drm-free content than abandonware

[–] [email protected] 61 points 9 months ago (3 children)

There should be a law in the United States - if you stop selling it, 1 year later you lose your copyright and it becomes public domain.

[–] [email protected] 80 points 9 months ago (2 children)

If you can remove content from the marketplace for a tax write off, the removed content should become public property.

[–] [email protected] 45 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

That actually makes a ton of sense. We fucking paid for it after all.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago

This is the way

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago

The US won't. The EU probably will.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

It exists, but isn't 1 year. Closer to 20 I think? There are also deals that require constant usage, like Sony's hold on spiderman. Quick search says 5 years 9 months for them to hold on to it.

Back to copyright, there was a game Wizards of the Coast acquired from Gygax's company that a neonazi and one of Gygax's sons tried to use claiming WoTC abandoned it. It was blatantly racist so one of the few times people were rooting for WoTC to win. WoTC hadn't made a new game, but claimed they were still selling manuals digitally.

Edit might be trademark rather than copyright.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

It could be trademark, certainly isn't copyright. Trademark is use it and defend it, or lose it. Common trademarks that were lost are kleenex (tissue) and band-aid (bandage). Patents vary somewhat by industry, but in the computer world last 20 years. I think copyright is up to life of the creator plus 70 years, or 70 years if it's owned by a company. This is why we hear about JRR Tolkiens kids having lawsuits about stuff related to LoTR, and why Steamboat Willy only recently went public domain.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

https://mander.xyz/post/5948544

[–] Piemanding 19 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yeah. I've heard multiple times how entire careers are made supporting abandonware. The US military I believe pays microsoft millions a year to add security updates to their own version of Windows XP so old software can keep working.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago

they pay a shitton of money to pull old devs out of retirement, because noone can code cobol on the required level anymore

[–] [email protected] 26 points 9 months ago

But despite the fact we don't want money for it we hate the idea of you getting it for free more

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

The disparity in wealth should shrink instead of grow.