Popular Steam Game Free Before It Disappears Forever

A highly rated and popular game on Steam is free for a limited time before it disappears from the digital storefront. It's not often games are delisted, but it happens a few times a year. In an increasingly digital era, this is more problematic than ever. And in this specific instance, it means you will never be able to purchase the game again because it was never released via retail. That said, if you did purchase the game, you can still play it after its removal, and until its removal, if you haven't purchased it, you can still enjoy it because it's free until it's delisted on January 23.

The game in question is Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzles from Blue Wizard Digital. On Steam, the game boasts a "Very Positive" User Review rating, with 93 percent of over 5,000 user reviews rating the game positively. The game, which was released in 2018, is available on other platforms, but all of these versions, like the Steam version, are also being delisted on January 23. Unlike the Steam version though, these versions are not free until then.

Why is the game being removed? Well, according to a statement released alongside this news, Blue Wizard Digital is unable to renew the licensing involved. And with no licensing, the game can no longer be sold. This is the extent of specificity provided about the licensing issues.

"Today we have to make a sad announcement: We were unable to renew the license for Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle with the licensors and have been required to wind down all future sales of the game later this month," reads said statement. "We have been assured by all platforms that players who have already downloaded / purchased the game and made in-app purchases within the game will continue to have access to the content they paid for in perpetuity. The game will be coming down from the storefronts across all platforms on January 23rd, 2023."

The statement continues: "We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and disappointment this causes. It is a truly sad situation and all of us at Blue Wizard are absolutely crushed as well-F13: Killer Puzzle is a game we are so incredibly proud of. Thank you for your support over the years, and stay tuned to BlueWizard.com for future updates. Also don't forget we still proudly offer the Overwhelmingly Positive rated Horror-Puzzle game that started it all: Slayaway Camp!"