Warner Bros is removing additional Adult Swim games from sale.
Just days after the Small Radios Big Televisions developer announced the retirement of their game from Steam at Warner Bros Discovery’s request, it appears that the entire lineup of Adult Swim games may face a similar fate. Two other developers have disclosed receiving notifications that their Adult Swim-published games will also be withdrawn from sale within 60 days.
Team2Bit, the developer behind Fist Puncher, shared on the Steam forums that they too received a retirement notice from Warner. The message indicated that their game would be taken down from Steam within the next 60 days. Despite requesting to transfer the game to their own Steam publisher page, Team2Bit’s appeal was denied. Warner cited a universal decision not to transfer games back to the original studios, citing a lack of resources for such transfers, despite the process being straightforward and brief.
“This is incredibly disappointing,” . “I’m not entirely sure what will even happen if the game gets delisted, but it makes me sick to think that purchased games will presumably be removed from users’ libraries. Matt Kain Lewandowski of Team2Bit wrote.
Lewandowski also voiced worry about the possibility of Fist Puncher owners losing access to the game and its related content once it’s removed from sale. However, such an outcome seems improbable. Generally, when games are delisted from sale on Steam, existing owners maintain access. Lewandowski expressed hope that this will be the case but acknowledged it’s beyond his control.
Landon Podbielski, the developer behind Duck Game, mentioned he hasn’t received any communication regarding delisting, but anticipates it’s imminent. “Don’t know much yet, sad but not really surprised,” he tweeted. “I loved ASG and its people but that’s all history now as they’ve been practically shut down for years.” Podbielski suggested that the takedowns could potentially be positive if Warner could return ownership of the games to their developers—a prospect Warner has thus far rejected.
Andrew Morrish, the creator of Kingsway, also noted he hasn’t been notified about delisting but stated, “I will do what I can to have the game relisted on Steam and other stores” if it occurs.
While developers of other Adult Swim-published games haven’t addressed possible delisting, an across-the-board takedown wouldn’t be surprising considering recent maneuvers by Warner Bros Discovery. Over the past few years, it has canceled releases of at least two completed films, Batgirl and Coyote vs Acme, opting for tax write-offs instead. Additionally, it has removed numerous shows and movies from its Max (formerly HBO Max) streaming service.
At present, neither Adult Swim nor its parent company, Warner, have commented on the status of the Adult Swim catalog. However, Podbielski noted that Adult Swim Games has been inactive for quite some time. Its most recent Steam release, Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time, came out in 2020, and its Twitter account hasn’t been active since June 2021. This lack of activity doesn’t inspire confidence in the future.
