This month has been a bumpy one for Cartoon Network fans. Following the news last week that Toonami Rewind will be coming to an end, it was announced today that multiple video games published by Cartoon Network Games are being delisted from digital platforms. It seems at least four games have been removed without advance notice: OK K.O.! Let’s Play Heroes, Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time, Steven Universe: Save the Light, and Steven Universe: Unleash the Light. As of this writing, no reason has been given for the decision. However, Grumpyface Studios, the development team behind the Steven Universe games, addressed the delisting on X/Twitter.
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“We are not involved with the decision to delist our Steven Universe: The Light Trilogy games or our Teeny Titans games. We are also unable to speak on it further. All questions about the sunsetting of the games should be sent to Cartoon Network and WB,” the company wrote on social media. “We are heartbroken.”
What makes this situation even worse is the fact that, because this happened without warning, fans didn’t have a chance to scoop these games up ahead of their delisting. Usually developers and publishers will give fans a head’s up, but that was not the case with these games. They were simply available one day, and then gone the next. That said, there are some options available. For Switch users, digital codes for Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time and Steven Universe: Save the Light are both available on Best Buy’s website, as of this writing. Even with the games delisted, those codes should still work while they’re in stock. Fans can also try to track down some of the physical releases for these games.
Delistings have become a pretty big problem throughout the video game industry over the last few years. Publishers and developers have increasingly pushed the idea of digital games as a replacement for physical media, yet companies are constantly delisting titles, ensuring that they can no longer be played by anyone that didn’t buy them while they were available.
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Since the news broke, many Cartoon Network fans have attempted to tag the company on X/Twitter, hoping to prompt a response, or just show the frustration over the situation. This is not the first time that we’ve seen weird delistings related to the company. Earlier this year, several indie titles published by Adult Swim Games were in danger of being lost forever, but industry outcry led to the rights to those games being transferred to the developers. However, this is a somewhat different situation, as the games in question are based on properties owned by Cartoon Network. As such, it’s going to be a lot harder to convince the company to keep making these games available to the public.
Are you disappointed to see these games delisted? Do you wish there had been some kind of advance warning? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
