UPDATE: The two games have since returned to Steam with no explanation having been given for their brief removal.
It’s not unusual for games to disappear from Steam. In fact, some titles don’t go on sale through the Valve-created client at all. But questions are being raised today as reports state that Aliens: Colonial Marines and Aliens vs. Predator (the 2010 version) have been pulled from the digital distribution software. The discovery was first made by the gaming community on Reddit, who immediately expressed concern that other titles may be up for the chop.
Thankfully, Alien: Isolation is still readily available (to many people’s relief, no doubt), but the mediocre AvP and the poorly received Colonial Marines were given the heave-ho. Even more curious is Steam’s decision to keep the original 2000 release of Aliens vs. Predator available for purchase.
Speculation is bound to arise as to the reason for removing the two second-rate titles. People may be forgiven for thinking the poor reception of both games as one of the main reasons for being pulled, but according to a report on Eurogamer, it may be because of the rights:
One would assume this is a rights issue and the Aliens license simply expired from publisher Sega, but that doesn’t quite add up as Colonial Marines is still available on both PlayStation Network and the Xbox Marketplace, while AvP is only on the latter.
While games come and go from Steam a lot of the time – especially at the beginning of the year – it’s possible for some of them to make a return, such as The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct. Will the two Alien games make a triumphant return in the near future? No one can say at this stage, but we’ll keep you updated if they do somehow make their way back onto Steam.
