Looks like you won't be able to redowonload after October 1st either. That's cool of the devs to do that...
Oxenfree getting yanked from Itch.io (Will be unable to redownload)
- Thread starter finaljedi
- Start date
It's DRM free so you could make 10 physical copies with the download lol
Still sucks because people will 100% miss the notice
OP
OP
It was included in those charity bundles for both BLM and Palestine I believe, so there are probably a lot of people with this in their libraries on itch.io.
Pulling game downloads from existing owners is just the worst. The absolute worst. It would have me seriously reconsider buying anything from that storefront in the future.
probably, it barely got talked about when it released.
Hmm, I've received no such message/e-mail despite owning Oxenfree on itch.io through the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, presumably because I hadn't officially added it to my collection or w/e... sneaky.
Well, since I haven't received any notice that MY download will be removed on October 1st, I'll complain quite loudly if it does.
Well, since I haven't received any notice that MY download will be removed on October 1st, I'll complain quite loudly if it does.
Hey this sucks but don't be throwing strays at Oxenfree II now
itch.io is a simple platform for indie devs, so I imagine the ability to remove content is firmly in the hands of the content owners. Who are in this case Netflix.
It's not like Steam or the app stores. It's shitty but I don't think this sets a precedence. Other than, backup files if an indie team gets bought by a corporation.
This 100% is a Netflix call instead of a Night Studio call. At least the Steam version seems to remain up, so it isn't like it's getting completely delisted. But still, a shame for those who bought that game on itch.io specifically
Maybe I'm just old school but I'd just download it and store it on local drive (or even better - a DVD)? It's basically a physical copy at that point. Because it's a DRM free download I don't find this as big a deal as something pulled from a store like Steam for example.
OP
OP
It probably happens when you add it to your collection. When I got those bundles I went through and added the ones that looked interesting to my collection.
I'm on the GOG core community discord and they usually announce games being removed there and the last thing they have were the Suffering games.
I've since added it to my account and downloaded it, but still no notice about it being removed. Not that it'd help if I tried to add it to my collection after its removal on October 1st.
So I've shot an e-mail over to itch.io support requesting that they please make sure that everyone who bought the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality be notified about Oxenfree's impending removal, regardless of whether or not they've added it to their collection yet or not.
It should probably be added to the thread title that downloads will be revoked too. That's a very big deal.
Why can items be removed from a bundle that was already purchased? Surely it be removed from sale for future purchases, but people who already paid should still be able to access it? If not I'm gonna stop buying things from Itch.io .
Edit-
I did find this https://itch.io/t/503899/are-itchio-developers-allowed-to-delete-games-that-weve-purchased apparently they can remove the files, but not the project page? no idea if this is outdated, seems like a pretty flawed TOS.
2nd Edit-
Apparently Itch does have support to disable new purchases while allowing existing purchases to access/redownload, this dev is just choosing not to use the function....
Edit-
I did find this https://itch.io/t/503899/are-itchio-developers-allowed-to-delete-games-that-weve-purchased apparently they can remove the files, but not the project page? no idea if this is outdated, seems like a pretty flawed TOS.
2nd Edit-
Is there a way to take stop my game being sold but still allow existing owners to carry on downloading it? - Questions & Support
Heya, I wanted to stop my game being sold on itch due to Steam's TOS. The only way I saw that it was possible through searching was by ticking the "hide this file and prevent it being downloaded" box
itch.io
More like they're using that function now (I wasn't even able to view the Oxenfree page, giving me a page not found until I added it into my collection from the bundle, at which point I guess itch finally considered me to officially own the game), and choosing to stop using it come October 1st.
Yeah, I just got this and it really disturbs me. I mean, you don't want to sell it there anymore, fine, whatever. But why remove it for people like me who bought it on Itch years and years ago? Fucking why? It costs you nothing to keep access for customers! Removing it even costs good will and reputation. It's just bizarre and sets a terrible precedent. And they only give less than a month's notice!
What if I didn't see this in time? That could easily happen. I'd lose the game forever without re-buying it.
Thankfully, it's DRM-free, so I can keep the game because I have downloaded it but it just seems so meaningless to remove the ability of owners to download it. Now I have to keep backups and manage that data.
And yeah, this would be Netflix, for sure. No small game studio would choose to do something this stupid for kicks, but Netflix would.
What if I didn't see this in time? That could easily happen. I'd lose the game forever without re-buying it.
Thankfully, it's DRM-free, so I can keep the game because I have downloaded it but it just seems so meaningless to remove the ability of owners to download it. Now I have to keep backups and manage that data.
And yeah, this would be Netflix, for sure. No small game studio would choose to do something this stupid for kicks, but Netflix would.
Last edited:
Usually when a game gets delisted, that just means that you can't purchase it anymore, but everyone who already owns it can still re-download it as long as the storefront exists. Outright scrubbing it entirely is disturbing.
This only pertains to digital goods because the USA has lackluster (non-existent) customer rights.
It applies in every country in the world, not just the USA.
Under the Berne convention keeping a file online for reaccess involved continuing permission from every copyright owner, and they simply aren't available in perpetuity.
It's only a matter of time until third party rights owners like music societies force Steam et al to stop distributing many older titles and there will be much wailing when it happens.
I'm pretty sure the ability to download in perpetuity is in the TOS.
When music licensing in games published on Steam expire, I understand the publisher has to have the licensed content removed, and the game stays on (like Alan Wake and the David Bowie song, recently). I don't see how any third party rights owner could force the rest of the game to get taken down when the licensed content has been excised.
If there's nobody left to do the patch then the entire title will need to be removed.
Steam's TOS are irrelevant, they have no direct contractual relationship with the rights owner.
itch is a small enough market that this will probably not make news anywhere despite being a pretty gross move, so i reached out to night school to see if they could offer any actual clarification on why the game was being removed from itch even for paying customers. it's a very petty and pointless move to pull on people after all these years
Then Order of War: Challenge. One of the GTA games or maybe DLCs got fully removed because Rockstar released a remastered edition I think.
How does that work with older licensed games then? The licenses for say, Marvel's Ultimate Alliance and Forza Horizon 3 expired long ago, and as such the games were delisted. Yet I can continue to redownload the games to this date, from Steam and Xbox respectively.
Does this only apply to works of music?
You shouldn't assume that things are the way they are because they're legally required to be that way.
Is that a bridge too far?
I'm just supposed to believe that as long as Steam has been in existence, publishers havent deleted games from our collective libraries unilaterally... out of the goodness of their hearts?
Has nothing to do with good hearts. Probably just not worth the risk of bad pr or sparking legislative/legal changes.
We know from Epic v. Apple that Valve requires devs to agree to this prior to releasing a game on Steam.
Same with Microsoft PC store they had around Windows 7. Althought that's more "we vanished entire store" and not this game is no longer available, which is even worse.
