Warner Bros. is now erasing games as it plans to delist Adult Swim-published titles

polygon.com:

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.

Polygon reached out to other developers who had worked with Adult Swim Games as a publisher. Two studios responded to say that they’d received a similar warning from Warner Bros. Discovery, but they are still in the dark about what it means for their games.

Developer Michael Molinari, who released Soundodger+ through Adult Swim Games in 2013, told Polygon he received a warning from a Warner Bros. Discovery rep earlier this week that his game would be “removed from Steam” within the next 60 days.

“I don’t know if they’re delisting it or deleting it,” Molinari told Polygon in an email. “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