Lost Levels Forums

The time now is Thu Mar 28, 2024 6:51 pm

Xbox 360 games disappearing from the digital marketplace

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Lost Levels Forum Index -> Unreleased Games
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
ThreeProphets



Joined: 07 May 2017
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Sun May 07, 2017 8:08 am    Post subject: Xbox 360 games disappearing from the digital marketplace Reply with quote

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this thread, but I noticed the announcement thread has been dead for 7 years, so here goes:

There are several 360 games vanishing from the Xbox Marketplace. If you owned a digital copy you can still download it, but you can't buy them. Obviously, you can still get them on disc, but in the increasingly digital age, I find this disturbing. These games could become rare. Does anyone know why this is happening?

Games I've noticed so far are HAWX 2, OFP Red River, and Mass Effect 2 and 3
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Skrybe
Staff
Staff


Joined: 28 Aug 2003
Posts: 1610

PostPosted: Sun May 07, 2017 4:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Presumably, unwillingness to continue paying licensing fees on an old game is a big part of it. Older stuff has been getting delisted for a while now. There's a handful of XBLA games, like Scott Pilgrim, that are impossible to get legally now, since they aren't on Marketplace anymore and never had a physical release.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ThreeProphets



Joined: 07 May 2017
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Sun May 07, 2017 7:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So in order to keep their games on the marketplace, publishers have to not only relinquish a portion of their profits, but pay continual licensing fees as well?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Skrybe
Staff
Staff


Joined: 28 Aug 2003
Posts: 1610

PostPosted: Mon May 08, 2017 12:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not exactly. What I was getting at was something like my example of Scott Pilgrim, where the license to use the Scott Pilgrim name/likeness/etc. was probably only valid for a few years. Once that ran out, rather than renew the license, they just pulled the game from the market. That seems to be at the root of a lot of the games that have been pulled from download. This is largely speculation, though. I'm in no way an expert on the process of getting a game published.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Niiue



Joined: 08 Nov 2015
Posts: 17

PostPosted: Sat May 13, 2017 6:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Skrybe wrote:
Not exactly. What I was getting at was something like my example of Scott Pilgrim, where the license to use the Scott Pilgrim name/likeness/etc. was probably only valid for a few years. Once that ran out, rather than renew the license, they just pulled the game from the market. That seems to be at the root of a lot of the games that have been pulled from download. This is largely speculation, though. I'm in no way an expert on the process of getting a game published.


That's correct.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Mustard Broach



Joined: 02 Feb 2010
Posts: 47

PostPosted: Tue May 16, 2017 8:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alan Wake was just pulled from Steam due to music licensing issues. According to Xbox's website, it's still available on XBL, but they may have just not removed it yet.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
M'cin



Joined: 20 May 2017
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Sat May 20, 2017 5:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Actually, reasons are different.

Some games are unlisted because of some Copyright wars and trials (f. e. Catan)

Some are delisted because their rightful publisher decided so (After Burner Climax)

Some are delisted, because their IP owner bankrupts and noone purchases this IP (F. e. Stranglehold - note it is still there and you can buy DLCs)

For some we might never know - like Trouble Witches Neo!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Johnny Undaunted



Joined: 08 Sep 2003
Posts: 306

PostPosted: Sat May 20, 2017 6:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

M'cin wrote:
Some are delisted because their rightful publisher decided so (After Burner Climax)


After Burner Climax featured actual aircrafts from Boeing and Northrop Grumman. Sega simply choose not to renew their license. Same thing happened with that one Outrun game that was available digitally on PS3 and 360.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Carnivol
gay dickhead


Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Posts: 576
Location: confirmed

PostPosted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 7:22 pm    Post subject: Re: Xbox 360 games disappearing from the digital marketplace Reply with quote

Everyone's covered pretty much everything about licensing already, but I wanna add something to the specific titles namedropped here;

ThreeProphets wrote:
Games I've noticed so far are HAWX 2, OFP Red River, and Mass Effect 2 and 3


Not sure about HAWX 2 and Operation Flashpoint, but you're probably misremembering Mass Effect 2 and 3, as those two never actually had digital releases on 360 at all, due to EA never doing a DLC specific package for it. Those two have actually only just recently become available in digital download form (although only on XB1) via Backwards Compatibility and EA Access.

Now, a more curious thing are those multi-disc games that actually DID get digital releases on the Xbox 360, as those versions are "kinda" different from those you can purchase in stores.

Stuff like Assassin's Creed 3 and The Witcher 2, both of which are multi-disc games on 360, received digital versions on the marketplace long before MS added their custom voodoo workaround that recently enabled other multi-disc titles like Dead Space 2-3, Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, Deus Ex: Director's Cut, etc. to be added to the marketplace, as-is, w/out any additional voodoo provided from the developers to circumvent the disc swapping.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Lost Levels Forum Index -> Unreleased Games All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

RSS


Powered by phpBB 2.0.23 © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group