Warner Bros. Plans To Delist All Adult Swim Games

Adult Swim Games

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.

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:

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.

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.”

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Lewandowski’s back and forth with the rep was much the same as Molinari’s.

Lewandowski is hopeful that they’ll transfer ownership back to Team2Bit.

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.

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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B. Simmons

Based out of Glendale California, Bryan is a GAMbIT's resident gaming contributor. Specializing in PC and portable gaming, you can find Bryan on his 3DS playing Monster Hunter or at one of the various conventions throughout the state.

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