this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2024
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Warner Bros. is now erasing games as it plans to delist Adult Swim-published titles (www.polygon.com)
submitted 2 years ago by Ninjazzon@infosec.pub to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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Warner Bros. Discovery is telling developers it plans to start “retiring” games published by its Adult Swim Games label, game makers who worked with the publisher tell Polygon. At least three games are under threat of being removed from Steam and other digital stores, with the fate of other games published by Adult Swim unclear.

The media conglomerate’s planned removal of those games echoes cuts from its film and television business; Warner Bros. Discovery infamously scrapped plans to release nearly complete movies Batgirl and Coyote vs. Acme, and removed multiple series from its streaming services. If Warner Bros. does go through with plans to delist Adult Swim’s games from Steam and digital console stores, 18 or more games could be affected.

News of the Warner Bros. plan to potentially pull Adult Swim’s games from Steam and the PlayStation Store was first reported by developer Owen Reedy, who released puzzle-adventure game Small Radios Big Televisions through the label in 2016. Reedy said on X Tuesday the game was being “retired” by Adult Swim Games’ owner. He responded to the company’s decision by making the Windows PC version of Small Radios Big Televisions available to download for free from his studio’s website.

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[–] 21Cabbage@lemmynsfw.com 137 points 2 years ago (4 children)

I've never encountered a better argument for piracy and drm-free content than abandonware

[–] 4am@lemm.ee 65 points 2 years ago (3 children)

There should be a law in the United States - if you stop selling it, 1 year later you lose your copyright and it becomes public domain.

[–] NoSpiritAnimal@lemmy.world 80 points 2 years ago (2 children)

If you can remove content from the marketplace for a tax write off, the removed content should become public property.

[–] CPMSP@midwest.social 45 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

That actually makes a ton of sense. We fucking paid for it after all.

[–] GBU_28@lemm.ee 11 points 2 years ago

This is the way

[–] Goodie@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago

The US won't. The EU probably will.

[–] chatokun@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

It exists, but isn't 1 year. Closer to 20 I think? There are also deals that require constant usage, like Sony's hold on spiderman. Quick search says 5 years 9 months for them to hold on to it.

Back to copyright, there was a game Wizards of the Coast acquired from Gygax's company that a neonazi and one of Gygax's sons tried to use claiming WoTC abandoned it. It was blatantly racist so one of the few times people were rooting for WoTC to win. WoTC hadn't made a new game, but claimed they were still selling manuals digitally.

Edit might be trademark rather than copyright.

[–] GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 years ago

It could be trademark, certainly isn't copyright. Trademark is use it and defend it, or lose it. Common trademarks that were lost are kleenex (tissue) and band-aid (bandage). Patents vary somewhat by industry, but in the computer world last 20 years. I think copyright is up to life of the creator plus 70 years, or 70 years if it's owned by a company. This is why we hear about JRR Tolkiens kids having lawsuits about stuff related to LoTR, and why Steamboat Willy only recently went public domain.

[–] fossilesque@mander.xyz 31 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)
[–] Piemanding@sh.itjust.works 18 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Yeah. I've heard multiple times how entire careers are made supporting abandonware. The US military I believe pays microsoft millions a year to add security updates to their own version of Windows XP so old software can keep working.

[–] a_wild_mimic_appears@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 2 years ago

they pay a shitton of money to pull old devs out of retirement, because noone can code cobol on the required level anymore

[–] Z3k3@lemmy.world 26 points 2 years ago

But despite the fact we don't want money for it we hate the idea of you getting it for free more

[–] harderian729@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

The disparity in wealth should shrink instead of grow.