Bummer: Umihara Kawase de-listed from Steam following studio closure

Digital strikes again

Throughout 2015 you may remember me touching on the concept of game preservation often. Over the years, as the digital arena slowly increases its grasp on physical media, I’ve gotten increasingly worried. I’m not opposed to a digital future in theory (I prefer it in some cases, like shooters, where I can just load it up instantly for a few minutes at a time), but the fact that games can outright disappear from marketplaces is troubling.

In most cases you can get them back if you already purchased them, but in other more rare instances, they’re gone forever. That sad fate fell upon the Umihara Kawase series recently, as they were de-listed from Steam following the collapse of publisher Agatsuma Entertainment (who has been operating since 1997). It’s even more depressing when you realize that a few of these were added mere weeks ago.

It’s so weird, because Steam has a system that allows people to transfer games from their inventory, even though it’s technically not for sale on an official level. As the digital era continues to grow, I hope that more publishers have backup plans for occurrences like this, so certain titles don’t just go away forever.

The Umihara Kawase games have been delisted from Steam [NeoGAF]