Warner Bros. Discovery has informed developers that it plans to remove games published under its Adult Swim Games label. Three games are currently on the chopping block, and many more could be in danger if WB terminates the brand altogether.
Warner Bros. is removing 3 Adult Swim games, more may follow
According to Polygon, Warner Bros. Discovery recently notified the developers of Fist Puncher, Soundodger+, and Small Radios Big Televisions that it will be pulling their games from Steam and PlayStation. The oldest, Fist Puncher, launched in 2011, while the newest, Small Radios Big Televisions, released in 2016. It’s unclear why these specific games are in the crosshairs or what this means for the rest of the publisher’s catalog. However, Adult Swim Games is reportedly operating with a skeleton crew.
Small Radios Big Televisions developer Owen Reedy responded to the decisions by making his game available on his personal website. Soundodger+ developer Michael Molinari also said he still has the right to republish his game. However, this will mean losing over a decade of community engagement through Steam. It’s also unclear to Molinari whether Warner Bros. is deleting or merely delisting Soundodger+.
Warner Bros., who have also made major cuts to its film and television business, declined to transfer the games to their developers, citing a lack of resources. “I pleaded with the rep to transfer ownership to my company,” said Molinari. “I sent him a link to Steam’s transfer page and explained clearly that it takes literally three clicks to transfer ownership to me. He rejected my request.”
Fist Puncher developer Team2Bit made the same request and also had it denied. Team2Bit and Molinari intend to republish their games on Steam but expressed concern about game preservation. To republish their games, developers will need to not only remove Adult Swim branding but also delete the names of Adult Swim employees from the credits.
As for other Adult Swim games, many publishers expect additional takedowns are coming. From what I’ve heard from others,” said Kingsway developer Andrew Morrish, “I will probably be hearing from them soon.”
