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ThreeProphets
Joined: 07 May 2017 Posts: 3
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Posted: Sun May 07, 2017 8:08 am Post subject: Xbox 360 games disappearing from the digital marketplace |
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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 |
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Skrybe Staff
Joined: 28 Aug 2003 Posts: 1610
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Posted: Sun May 07, 2017 4:29 pm Post subject: |
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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. |
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ThreeProphets
Joined: 07 May 2017 Posts: 3
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Posted: Sun May 07, 2017 7:40 pm Post subject: |
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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? |
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Skrybe Staff
Joined: 28 Aug 2003 Posts: 1610
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Posted: Mon May 08, 2017 12:11 am Post subject: |
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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. |
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Niiue
Joined: 08 Nov 2015 Posts: 17
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Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 6:49 pm Post subject: |
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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. |
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Mustard Broach
Joined: 02 Feb 2010 Posts: 47
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Posted: Tue May 16, 2017 8:21 pm Post subject: |
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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. |
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M'cin
Joined: 20 May 2017 Posts: 1
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Posted: Sat May 20, 2017 5:36 pm Post subject: |
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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! |
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Johnny Undaunted
Joined: 08 Sep 2003 Posts: 306
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Posted: Sat May 20, 2017 6:52 pm Post subject: |
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M'cin wrote: | Some are delisted because their rightful publisher decided so (After Burner Climax)
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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. |
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Carnivol gay dickhead
Joined: 21 Jun 2004 Posts: 576 Location: confirmed
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Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 7:22 pm Post subject: Re: Xbox 360 games disappearing from the digital marketplace |
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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. |
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