How does delisting a game make/save money? - eviltoast
As more developers confirm, it looks likely that ALL Adult Swim Games titles will be removed by May [UPDATE: Better Links]
delistedgames.com
[UPDATE 03/09/24] I had some time this morning to gather the links for the list of games. Also, a reader pointed out that Westerado isn’t self-published so it’s still at risk of a delis…

I don’t understand how this works. How does delisting a game make or save money? It’s already spent in the creation. Now sales don’t cost anything. There’s no goods to ship. Steam copies the files to you, WB doesn’t do anything.

“As more developers confirm, it looks likely that ALL Adult Swim Games titles will be removed by May” cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/26167118

This. Sucks. I really love games like Duck Game, Kingsway, and Super House of Dead Ninjas.

  • gibmiser@lemmy.world
    363·
    8 months ago

    Im not in the business, but i think they are playing the long game. People don’t want to pay full price for an old game or a remaster. And unless there is a crazy fan base they won’t get hyped about a remake of a game.

    They want their new releases to not be competing with their older, cheaper games.

    • Ultraviolet@lemmy.worldEnglish
      19·
      8 months ago

      That would be an entirely new level of unethicality. Not only does it fly in the face of preservation, it’s a stab in the back to the developers who trusted them to publish their game. Imagine having made a game that you’re proud of and want to share with people, but you’re not allowed to sell it or even give it away because the megacorp that promised to do the business side of things and let you focus on development turned around and decided it will be buried forever.

      • gibmiser@lemmy.world
        81·
        8 months ago

        Yes that’s true, but have you considered the shareholders? Those sweet, innocent shareholders…

    • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de
      3·
      8 months ago

      That makes zero sense whatsoever.

      People buy these from steam and other game stores. Not going to warner bros site and buying them.

      Getting rid of fist puncher on steam to try and make your new game stand out and get bought when there’s literally over 14,000 other games on the platform you’re selling on makes no sense.

      What does make sense is bullshit tax write offs you can abuse after a business merger.

    • BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      8 months ago

      This sort of makes sense but not for quite the same reasons. This may be an attempt to simplify their licensing arrangements so they can resell them or bring them in house. It’s easier to cancel all the licensing agreements in one go so they can then make a fresh exclusive arrangement with a single company.

      It’s less about competing with the existing games (which they already control through licensing) and more to do with being able to sell or use the licensing cleanly without worrying about pre-existinf commitments.

      Like, for each new game either you do legal compliance to make sure you’re not breaching your previous agreements OR you cancel all the agreements in one go and you never have to bother worrying about it. Saves money but also makes you the sort of company businesses will be wary doing deals with. But they probably have a deal with a big publisher lined up or intend to take the whole thing in house.