Welcome to Delisted Games, a growing archive of 717 games you can’t play.
The site is expanding all the time with new additions, reader submissions, and a feed of Watch List news below. You can use the search bar to find any game — It’s powerful! Read some hints — or use the menus at top to browse our collection by platform. Thanks for checking out the site!
We’ve got sad news for office workers as well as gamers holding out with older Windows machines today. Microsoft announced on July 2nd that several internet-enabled games for Windows XP, Millennium, and even Windows 7 will be switched off and (apparently) rendered unplayable starting at the end of July. The news broke on the Microsoft Answers forum where moderator M. Hammer posted the following:
Hello, Microsoft Internet Games players, it is with heavy hearts that we have made the difficult decision that the following games will no longer be supported.
Internet Backgammon (Windows XP/ME, 7)
Internet Checkers (Windows XP/ME, 7)
Internet Spades (Windows XP/ME, 7)
Internet Hearts (Windows XP/ME)
Internet Reversi (Windows XP/ME)
MSN Go (Windows 7)
Microsoft Internet Games services on Windows XP and ME will end on July 31, 2019.
Microsoft Internet Games services on Windows 7 will end on January 22, 2020.
We truly appreciate all the time and passion you’ve put into Microsoft Internet Games. This has been a great community. However, the time has come for us, along with our hardware and software partners, to invest our resources towards more recent technologies so that we can continue to deliver great new experiences.
Current players may enjoy the games until the dates above, when game services will cease, and the games listed will no longer be playable. While we’re saddened to leave this chapter behind, we continue to be committed to delivering engaging, delightful gaming experiences. We hope you’ll come with us on this journey and join the community of any of the other Microsoft casual games.
Sincerely,
The Windows Gaming Team
We’ve known for a while that Microsoft’s support of their older operating systems was coming to an end in 2020, but I don’t think anyone was thinking about the fate of Internet Reversi until this announcement. It looks like it’s time to settle those inter-office battles of backgammon… and hope your IT department has an upgrade plan in mind.
Source|ghacks.net
Last week was pretty hectic around the site and I missed being a little more timely on this news. It was January when we last heard about the legal feud between Stardock and the Star Control creators, Fred Ford and Paul Reiche. At the time, Star Control: Origins had just returned from extinction after Ford and Reiche filed a DMCA takedown against Stardock’s allegedly infringing efforts.
We were expecting more legal battles but in a twist of fate, all parties involved have come to an amicable agreement. Each side released their own statements but the gist is that their differences have been settled and both parties can now create the games they set out to make, with just a few modifications. Ford and Reiche’s statement lay things out in a handy list format and include revelations like:
- Stardock will create new games in the Star Control franchise. Paul & Fred will create new games in the Ur-Quan Masters franchise.
- To help differentiate the two franchises Paul volunteered to create a few new alien races for Origins.
- Stardock dropped all its alien name and character trademarks and all parties have dropped their oppositions to each other’s trademarks.
- The settlement resolved all issues with all the parties, including Valve and GOG.
- Stardock accepts that Paul & Fred are the creators of Star Control and Star Control II.
Most importantly for fans of the series (and delisted watch dogs), is the news that the original Star Control trilogy has returned to sale on both Steam and GOG.com. Stardock has become the new publisher of the relisted titles and royalties will be split evenly between all parties.
So unless a new antagonist appears with a lawsuit stating that they own the rights to Star Control, it looks like these tumultuous delistings and relistings are finally behind us. Ya know, until Steam or GOG shut down anyways.
Let me tell you about June 24th, 2019. Somewhere around 10am my phone started blowing up with New Follower notifications on Twitter. I assumed another spambot had set its algorithmic sights on the Delisted Games account but a good friend of mine was the one who pointed out the news shortly after.
Delisted Games has received the Jim Sterling “bump” and with only a quick mention in his latest episode of The Jimquisition (Stadia, Subscriptions, And The Death Of Game Ownership) our site views and follower counts went through the roof, and then on up to the stratosphere. As you can probably guess from the title, Jim shed some light on what we’ve been proselytizing here since 2016: just because you bought a game, doesn’t mean you own it in this digital age. As expected, he adds the colorful commentary he’s known for while bringing to bear the fears for our ever-more-digital future.
The aftermath of our little mention has resulted in over 11,000 site views, more than 2,000 new followers on Twitter… and about 10 Likes on Facebook. I’d like to say a warm welcome to anyone that’s just now finding the site and offer a quick tour:
- The search bar above is customizable to help narrow down what you’re looking for
- The Games menu above lets you see all delisted and Extinct titles by platform
- The Watch List offers a rolling feed of news posts and a calendar of upcoming delistings
- If you find a game we’re missing or want to help spread the word, check out the Support page
There’s even more to the site but I’ll let you all do some exploring. One last thing I’d like to point everyone to is our YouTube channel. The videos are embedded around the site and include archival hands-on tours of several delisted games and apps, as well as trailers and footage.
Thanks again for taking a look at the site!
Thanks again to friend of the site, FallenRyan, for the tip on a pair of Asia-specific server closures happening soon! Most immediate is Neverwinter, the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC MMO whose Hong Kong servers will be shutting down in 10 days on June 27th. The game’s PlayStation Store page offers only the simplest of confirmations, stating:
This game will close the server at 2019/6/27. For more information, please check the official website announcement or pay attention to the WeChat subscription account.
We couldn’t find an official post on the English language homepage or social media feeds about the closure but apparently the word was spread via in-game messages that also confirm customer and forum services in the territory will end on December 31st.
The next title being shut down is the Asia-exclusive, free-to-play, PlayStation 4 shooter, Operation7 Revolution. The news was announced on May 16th but the ability to purchase DLC was just terminated a few days ago. Existing players and newcomers alike can continue to play the base game until the servers are shut down on September 16th. Here’s the official statement:
Greetings from Operation7 Revolution. Thank you to all players who have loved and enjoyed for 2 years. Unfortunately, we regret to inform you that Operation7 Revolution will be ended to service on Sep. 16, 2019. You can play and enjoy the game until Sep. 16, 2019. We’ll come back and show you better game and service, soon. Thank you.
I’ve added both dates to the Watch List calendar.
The Telltale Games saga just continues to get stranger. As of May 31st all digital versions of the Minecraft: Story Mode series were confirmed delisted worldwide with the ability to re-download previous purchases being removed on June 25th. That’s a respectable window to allow owners a chance to download all their purchased content but an unexpected wrinkle arose in regards to the Xbox 360 edition. On June 14th, the Minecraft Story Mode Facebook page sprang back to life with the following announcement:
“As you may have heard, Minecraft: Story Mode games will no longer be supported via the necessary game servers on June 25th, 2019. All of Minecraft: Story Mode content was removed from sale on each digital storefront ahead of that happening. In the process of removing these items for sale, on the Xbox 360 platform only, existing Minecraft: Story Mode players became unable [to] download their remaining episodes. From working with the Xbox 360 platform, the only solution to this situation is to re-list the downloadable content for purchase.
So, to assist existing customers, all the downloadable Episodes for the two Minecraft: Story Mode titles are temporarily re-listed but, to deter new purchases, they will be re-listed at a very high price! The price shown is a real list price, please do not buy the content, if you do, you will be charged the amount shown. This is simply the only mechanism available to facilitate players being able to download their remaining episodes prior to servers shutting down.
Hopefully this will help existing Xbox 360 players get the downloadable Episodes they are entitled to. When the game servers are switched off on June 25th, the content will once again be removed from sale, upon which downloads will again become blocked.”
The current asking price? $99.99 per episode. Youch. That’s a steep price but one that I feel still isn’t beyond the reach of some dedicated (obsessed?) digital collectors. Anyone daring enough to click the Buy button on these episodes? You’ve only got about week to decide.
