You’ve got a little less than 2 months.
Not content with merely keeping what the people want from them, David Zaslav strikes again. This time, Warner Bros. plans to delist all of the games published through Adult Swim Games on Steam and all consoles they were available on.
The news initially came via developer Owen Reedy, who published the game Small Radios Big Televisions through the label. He was notified that the company would be “retiring” the game from all storefronts that currently feature it (specifically, Steam and PS4). In response, he made it free to download from his studio’s official site.
He’s not the only one. Two other developers have received similar notification from Warner, though neither, according to Polygon, has any clue what this actually means for their games.
Another, Michael Molinari, released Soundodger+ through the label in 2013. Speaking to Polygon, he said that he received a warning from a Warner Bros. Discovery rep that his game would be “removed from Steam” in the next 60 days.
I don’t know if they’re delisting it or deleting it. I pleaded with the rep to transfer ownership to my company, as I still retain all IP and game rights. I sent him a link to Steam’s transfer page and explained clearly that it takes literally three clicks to transfer ownership to me. He rejected my request.
Michael Molinari
Molinari says that the company’s decision to not ownership back to developers “stems from logistical and resource constraints” and “the limited capacity of our team.” Which seems to be the case, even if it’s bullplop; Polygon spoke with other developers, and all sources that knew anything clamied Adult Swim Games was being run by a “skeleton crew”. Molinari was frustrated with the decision, as it meant that it would cause “over a decade of downloads, community guides, reviews, and patch notes […] suddenly vanishing.”
Molinari (and presumably other developers) was informed by Warner Bros. Discovery that he is allowed to republish his game on Steam. But as noted above, that’s not necessarily the panacea to the problem. Republishing in such a fashion, says Molinari, “would erase all my wishlists, reviews, community guides, and forum discussions, along with not allowing new and old owners of the game to compare achievements and trading cards.”
Oh, and as another kick to the nards:
The other legal requirement for republishing the game myself is to remove any and all mention of Adult Swim Games. I asked for clarification, and he even wants the credits sequence altered to remove the names of the [Adult Swim Games] team. I’m a huge supporter of games preservation, and this is a direct blow to properly crediting the people that worked on a game.
Michael Molinari
Molinari plans to republish the game as soon as possible if it is pulled from Steam. He has also published the game on his itch page.
As an aside, I am beyond delighted I chose to self-publish Soundodger 2, as I’d be devastated to have my two best-selling games on Steam removed with such short notice.
Michael Molinari
Co-owner of studio Team2Bit (Fist Puncher [2]), Matt Lewandowski, received a similar email from a Warner rep. According to Lewandowski, the rep blamed the game’s oncoming removal on “internal business changes.”
Lewandowski’s back and forth with the rep was much the same as Molinari’s.
We requested that they transfer Fist Puncher back to our studio. “Their response was that they ‘cannot transfer the game’ due to the fact that they ‘made the decision not to transfer ownership due to logistical and resource constraints.
Matt Lewandowski
Lewandowski is hopeful that they’ll transfer ownership back to Team2Bit.
It’s been out for 11 years and we built a community around it through Steam. We also had an incredible experience working with Adult Swim over the years. The original team that helped us get Fist Puncher on Steam was passionate about elevating interesting and unique games from small studios.
That said, if we do not get the current release of Fist Puncher transferred over to us, then we will likely re-release it under our own account. We still own the game and the IP so a re-release is certainly possible. And as someone who is passionate about preserving game history, I hate to see any game get lost to corporate red tape.
Matt Lewandowski
Not all of the developers who published through the Adult Swim Games label have been contacted in this fashion yet. One such developer is Andrew Morrish, who made both Kingsway and Super Puzzle Platformer Deluxe.
From what I’ve heard from others, I will probably be hearing from them soon. It’s not looking good.
Andrew Morrish
While the bulk of the label is composed of indie titles that Adult Swim Games stepped in to publish, there are a few that were made out of Adult Swim properties. Notably, they published both Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality and Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time. There’s currently no news as to what will happen to either of these games, but I wouldn’t hold my breath, given Warner Bros. Discover’s current stance on letting things be profitable.
Source: Polygon
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