Not only are studios closing down: several Cartoon Network games are disappearing without notice

The situation of the video game industry is very precarious. After two years of weekly, if not daily, announcements of studio closures and massive layoffs, it’s easy to see the situation it is in. Even so, it may seem that this doesn’t have to affect users. But that’s not the case. Games are made by people, and the less accumulated knowledge there is, the worse games will be created. And games are not exempt from these kinds of dynamics either.

If you’re interested in Warner Bros games, buy them before they disappear

Warner Bros. Discovery and Cartoon Network Games have been planning for months to shut down their video game division. This also means removing all their games from physical and digital stores. They have decided to do this in the worst possible way: by surprise and without prior notice.

According to Wario64, at least five Cartoon Network Games have disappeared overnight. Later confirmed by Michael McWhertor of Polygon, the games that can no longer be purchased, although they can still be downloaded if you already own them, are OK K.O.! Let’s Play Heroes, Adventure Time: Finn and Jake’s Epic Quest, Adventure Time: Magic Man’s Head Games, Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time, Steven Universe: Save the Light, and Steven Universe: Unleash the Light.

Although there is no case where something like this is good, or even less bad, there is a particularly glaring case in all of this. That is Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time. A game that is not only excellent and underrated by critics and the public for being the license of an animated series, but it is also the canonical ending of the series. Leaving fans of the series with no way to enjoy the end of the story legally, unless they turn to the few second-hand copies of the game that may exist.

This deeply anti-consumer move is just one more example of Warner Bros.’ policies. Or the future of the video game industry if it continues down the same path. Because if it started with mass layoffs and continued with studio closures, the next step is the games. Both the removal of existing ones and the cancellation of those that should be released. This is just another reminder of how what happens in the industry also affects us as consumers.

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