Adult Swim Games doesn’t have an expansive, AAA library or anything, but what it does have is a library of games dating back to 2004 ranging from indies it helped prop up to internally developed flash titles. Well, it seems like that’s going away with reveal that Warner Bros. Discovery is doing away with some of its library.
Earlier in the week, solo developer Owen Deery of Fire Face Corporation told fans on X that Adult Swim Games is retiring his game — Small Radios Big Televisions — from online storefronts. As a means to drum up continued support and perhaps seen as a perceived preservation effort on Deery’s part, he made his title free to download on his website.
WarnerBros Discovery have informed me they will be 'retiring' my game Small Radios Big Televisions from both Steam and PS4 stores.
I've made it free to download here: https://t.co/Fn82RfKBcf
Thanks for all your support. pic.twitter.com/DCWsVtFYlR
— Owen Deery (@owendeery) March 5, 2024
More recently, Deery spoke in an update to Game Developer stating that this was due to “business changes” and that he couldn’t “challenge the move.”
“The email wasn’t so much a discussion about retiring the game, it was a legal notice. In terms of how it has affected me: it’s kind of depressing, I’m very proud of the game, but I can see why they did it. Adult Swim Games hasn’t really been a thing for many years now and everyone I worked with at the publisher has long since moved on to other places. When you’re working with purely digital products nothing is going to stay around for very long.”
Radio Viscera was his last project after experiencing burnout and has openly noted this is a huge hit to digital preservation. Unfortunately, this is far from unexpected — Warner Bros. is more interested in profiting from long-standing games ala Suicide Squad and other live service feats rather than one-off experiences like Deery’s well-received Small Radios Big Televisions.
In the end, when hearing the news, he wasn’t so much shocked it happened, as he’s known that the industry isn’t invested in preserving the medium.
“Timeline: Retirement is scheduled within the next 60 days, during which we will remove the game from both the Steam & PS4 platforms. Support: Our Customer Service team will be informed of the retirement date and equipped with prepared responses should users reach out. […]Thank you for your contribution to our game library and understanding during this transition. We are available should you have any questions.”
Even more unfortunate is that more games are slated to be delisted and not every game affiliated to Adult Swim will be saved, of course, right now ASG’s library is on sale.
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GWare is a gaming industry reporter with over five years of experience and a massive supporter of ethical game preservation efforts.