Hi, I noticed that a game I had for quite some time is suddenly missing from my library and it also is no longer available in the store. Regardless of the reason for its removal, according to your knowledge is it a common occurrence that a game can just disappear from a user's library without at least a notice/warning in advance that it should be backed up? I have already written to support quite a while ago, but there is no response yet, so I wondered if anyone knows of a similar case.
Oddly enough earlier today I went to download a game from the Racial Justice Bundle that I added to my library a couple months back (The Old Man + Extra Chapter by Okamizt Studio) and it seems to be vanished with no way to currently download it or even get back to its original store page (if you search the actual bundle page it is still listed, oddly). I can't really complain as it was for charity and I got, you know, the other thousand-plus games, but seeing as money was technically spent for it it feels... less than ideal that it can just disappear from your library with no way to retrieve it. I know when games get de-listed off of say Steam those who previously purchased it can still DL it to their machine and I assumed it was the same case here, so I guess this is a learning experience.
It's uncommon. We do our best to discourage people from removing games that have been bought already. They have to contact support and give a good reason for removing such games. But sometimes it happens. We can't hold their work hostage if they decide to pull it from shelves.
For safety, you should keep copies of all the games you own. Sorry about that.
I'm relatively new to itch.io, but as a former member of the GOG community I can tell you that such things can happen anywhere - most of the time not only without a former warning but even without any notification. Besides not being there anymore, servers for multiplayer modes can shut down, soundtracks can be removed without replacement, games can be updated without any changelog, prices can inflate, a new version can tank the performance on your machine - without any way to get "old"/"working" installers...
My advice would be to invest into an external HDD, keep "old"/"working" installers for every game you like on it, and take note of which studio/publisher it was that broke your trust so you never give any money to EA Ubisoft Bethesda Nexon Activision Rockstar Konami "them" again...
If it's any comfort to you with a bundle of such a truly gargantuan size there was nothing you could have done about it. You're only human.
Yeah, the cases you mentioned indeed happen quite often and I agree that it is best the backup the installers. Also, I should note that in my case I haven't truly lost the game as it came with a Steam key, which I have activated, so I still have access to it. It is just that from my previous experience with the two digital game stores I am mainly using, when a game is removed from the store, it still remains in the library of whoever have bought it up to the moment of its removal. This is why I wanted to confirm if my case is expected, or I have encountered some error with my account data.
I’m assuming you’re talking about one of the games that was in the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. At least one of the games from that bundle “never was intended to be part of the bundle from the devs/publishers side”. I would say in such a case it’s understandable that even the installers from people who bought the game get removed.
In other cases (and this is pure speculation on my part) the developers/publishers might have gotten cold feet after seeing the enormous success of a bundle they treated like a marketing stunt and the only way for them to withdraw quickly and quietly was to completely remove their game(s). “And with 1,741 other games… who is going to notice…? And if anybody sends us an email about it, we’ll just ignore it.” Again: Pure speculation on my part.
