Xbox Is Permanently Losing 6 Games in December, RIP

Xbox gamers, beware. It looks like six games may be getting delisted in December.

There are many reasons why video games get delisted and removed from platform stores. It could be due to expiring licences. It could be because of content that breaks that platform’s terms of service.

And sometimes, it can be due to publisher shenanigans, which makes it a little difficult to understand when a lot happens behind closed doors.

This might be the case with these six games that are being delisted next month.

Four of them come from publisher Outright Games. The company has confirmed that these four games are getting delisted next month on Steam, however, there is reason to believe this will also occur on Xbox (via Pure Xbox), along with any other platforms that the games appear.

Licensed Games Are On the Chopping Block

The four games are Blaze and the Monster Machines: Axle City Racers, JoJo Siwa: Worldwide Party, The Addams Family: Mansion Mayhem, and Transformers: Battlegrounds.

Considering each of these games are based on an existing intellectual property or individual, it’s pretty clear as to why they’re getting delisted. It looks like these titles also won’t be returning to the store, so be sure to pick them up if you’d like to play them.

Outright Games

When a developer or publisher enters a deal to create a game based on an existing licence, that game can typically only be sold for a certain amount of time.

There isn’t really a standard length for a licence to last, but the understanding is typically at least a few years. And then once that licence expires, the game risks being delisted from stores as it can no longer be legally sold.

This can sometimes even be as simple as expiring music or vehicle licences preventing the game from being sold. For example, Microsoft usually delists the Forza games (a first party game, might I add) because of expired car and music licences.

Publishers will sometimes release a patch that removes the expired content if it wants to continue selling copies of the game too. For example, Grand Theft Auto has regularly updated and removed songs from its in-game radio stations due to expiring music licences.

Meanwhile, two more games are also confirmed to be disappearing from storefronts next month. Basureroes: Invasion will be getting delisted on 5 December, while Road to Exotics will be removed from the store on 31 December.

So, if you’d like to pick up any of these games, make sure to do it before they’re delisted from the Xbox store.