In a devastating blow to players’ ability to play retro games, SEGA has announced that they will over 70 of their classic titles will soon be delisted from various virtual storefronts.
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Announced via November 6th update to the company’s official online support site, the eventual enforcement of this decision will see “select games and bundles will be delisted from virtual stores, becoming unavailable for new purchases.”
Set to commence on “December 6th at 11:59pm PST”, the specific titles set to be delisted vary by platform.
For Nintendo Switch and PlayStation players, 2010‘s SEGA Genesis Classics will be the only title rendered unaccessible.
Meanwhile, Xbox players will lose access not only to the Classics collection, but also Altered Beast, Crazy Taxi, Golden Axe, Monster World, NiGHTS into Dreams, SEGA Bass Fishing, Shinobi, Sonic the Fighters, Streets of Rage, SVC: ToeJam & Earl, and Virtua Fighter 2.
However, the worst affected will be Steam players, as Sega is set to remove a total of will remove 62 titles from Valve’s digital storefront, including:
- Alex Kidd in the Enchanted CastleAlien Soldier
- Alien Storm
- Altered Beast
- Beyond Oasis
- Bio-Hazard Battle
- Bonanza Bros
- Columns
- Columns III
- Comix Zone
- Crack Down
- Crazy Taxi
- Decap Attack
- Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
- Dreamcast Collection Bundle
- Dynamite Headdy
- Ecco Jr.
- Ecco the Dolphin
- Ecco: The Tides of Time
- ESWAT: City Under Siege
- Eternal Champions
- Fatal Labyrinth
- Flicky
- Galaxy Force II
- Gain Ground
- Golden Axe
- Golden Axe II
- Golden Axe III
- Gunstar Heroes
- Jet Set Radio
- Kid Chameleon
- Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole
- Light Crusader
- Mega Drive and Genesis Classic Bundle
- NiGHTS into Dreams
- Phantasy Star II
- Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
- Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
- Ristar
- SEGA Bass Fishing
- Shadow Dancer
- Shining Force
- Shining Force II
- Shining in the Darkness
- Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
- Sonic 3D Blast
- Sonic Spinball
- Space Channel 5: Part 2
- Space Harrier II
- Streets of Rage
- Streets of Rage 2
- Streets of Rage 3
- Super Thunder Blade
- Sword of Vermilion
- The Revenge of Shinobi
- ToeJam & Earl
- ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkoton
- VectorMan
- VectorMan 2
- Virtua Fighter 2
- Wonder Boy in Monster World
- Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair
Luckily, not everything is bleak, as SEGA’s website promises that while the games will become unavailable for new purchases, “All SEGA Classics games and bundles you own will remain in your library, ready to be downloaded and played at any time.”
Moreover, those with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription will still be able to play “select individual classic titles” through the services’ included virtual console.
At current, SEGA has yet to provide a specific reason behind their mass delisting.
However, speculation suggests a few possible explanations.
The first is the fact that certain series like Crazy Taxi, Golden Axe, Shinobi, Streets of Rage, and Virtua Fighter are on track to receive new entries in the relatively near future. As such, it’s possible that a misguided Sega may want to clean up their digital offerings in order to avoid confusion between the old and new games.
Furthermore, there’s also a chance that SEGA may be preparing a new collection for these games and want new players to be presented with that as the main option to play their classics instead of individual releases or the decade-and-a-half-old SEGA Classics Collection.
Ultimately, whatever the reason, retro fans should be sure to get their hands on these iconic titles before they’re gone.
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