Digital-only is erasing games from history as Spec Ops: The Line delisted

The dangers of an all-digital future have been laid bare as Devil May Cry 2 and 3, and Spec Ops: The Line, disappear from online stores.

[banger88]

Time to go sailing.

[Jingsing]

Well you have been warned about this since around 2006 except the gaming and general media don't care about preservation (They just want free content to review and move on with their career). In fact it was these same outlets that used to boast about cutting the cord and going all in on subscription and cloud services.

[gigoran8]

I remember when DLC started on consoles and people were screaming to not buy into it. show them with your wallet that you don't want studios to sell you the remainder of a game.

they didn't listen then. they are not listening now.

[Terry_B]

All 3 disappeared many many years ago from shop shelves as well

[Nyxus]

But you can still get them second hand.

[Terry_B]

If you want to play a game, you don't wait 10-15 years to buy it

[Nyxus]

What a silly thing to say.

[mrcatastropheAF]

These games are best played via emulation now anyway and so they are preserved

[Inverno]

Technically you can still get it digitally if you pirate it, the promise of digital is kept alive by the people. Thankfully I bought it long ago, think it's time I sat down and actually play it tho.

[EvertonFC]

Gaming shelves have definitely gotten smaller over the years for sure.
In my home city we have 1 GAME retailer where you can buy games (limited shelf space) and 1 supermarket called Tesco and that's basically it.
I also live in the 5th biggest city in England so it's not like I live in a small city either
I can see why everyone uses online stores like Amazon these days to get there copies cause cities in general are shite these days NOT just games either but clothes etc.

[Profchaos]

I really think we will see Xbox disappear from the shelves in the next year with PlayStation following with the ps6.

I see Nintendo as the only company to still sell physical media long term due to the nature of their systems being portable seeing as they target a younger demographic and don't seemingly want to split their development pipelines up to a home console and handheld again.

Sadly though there's going to be a time where we have no choice physical is dead and the only way to buy games is digitally and worse we have to pay whatever the company wants for them can probably kiss sales goodbye to

[Profchaos]

I disagree I played little Samson and final fantasy 1 for the first time this year and loved it those games 30 plus years old.
I know kids that are playing super Mario 64 for the first time to.
If a game is good a game is good and it could still find an audience 10, 20 or even 50 years down the line.

So I disagree if you want to play a game it can sometimes not be about waiting but also discovering.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Just checked Steam and it is in fact no there anymore. I had it originally on PS3 and consider it a masterpiece. Should have bought it on Steam when I had the chance.

[Crows90]

I'm telling you. Pirating will save the game industry. As much as they're purposefully trying to crack down on it for obvious and not so obvious reason, it'll continue to exist and allow games to be reserved and keep publishers in check.

[gigoran8]

keys are about $30 USD on key stores. so it is still possible to buy the game. Last time I purchased a key for a game no longer available on steam I was still able to add it to my library.

[M3talDiamond]

Things will get even worse when there's a streaming only future

[Hofstaderman]

I have my PS3 disc staring at me on a shelf. All hail physical.

[Shiore2u]

Glad I bought this years ago on Steam. Download, exe crack, backup on spare drive, simple.

[gigoran8]

Gamers: "we want a digital only console future. there is no point to physical anymore"
(games get delisted)
Gamers: "How DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARE you"

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I believe there was also another game that got removed from Steam in December last year? I'm glad I already grabbed some of these games.

[PRIMORDUS]

You can just torrent them on PC, no big deal. Then you will own them. Usenet works to. Once the all digital future for games is here, I will be on the high seas sailing until my time is up 🤣 🏴‍☠️🦜

[Azraeia]

In 2010 when streaming really started gaining attraction it became easier to buy a sub to Netflix and amazon etc. instead of pirating a movie or tv show. Same with games easier to buy a game at home than go to the store. Nowadays pirating is gonna make a huge comeback soon. Delisting games, broken games and stupid exclusivity and DRM is making piracy easier and (weirdly without DRM you get a better performing game). Netflix and others adding password sharing restrictions and upping prices is gonna kill their businesses.

[Profchaos]

Welcome to the world of tomorrow