Xbox 360 Game That Released 20 Years Ago Gets Delisted Out of Nowhere

A popular horror game that was released on Xbox 360 platforms almost 20 years ago exactly has been delisted without warning. By all accounts, the Xbox 360 was one of the best consoles ever when it came to horror games. Titles like Dead Space, Left 4 Dead, BioShock, F.E.A.R., and so many others were released on the legacy Xbox platform and went on to spawn franchises. Now, one of the most well-known horror games from the early days of the Xbox 360 has been taken off of digital storefronts for reasons that aren’t clear.

Within recent days, Condemned: Criminal Origins was removed from sale on both the Microsoft Store and Steam. Released as an Xbox 360 launch title in November 2005 and published by Sega, Condemned is widely considered one of the best horror games that hit the console in its early years. It went on to spawn a sequel in 2008 dubbed Condemned 2: Bloodshot, but since this time, the franchise has been on ice. Still, Condemned is looked back upon fondly, which has led to many revisiting it over the years, which has been easiest to do by purchasing a digital copy on Xbox or PC.

At the time of this writing, Sega hasn’t provided any info on why Condemned has been taken off of digital marketplaces. Typically, removals like this have something to do with in-game licenses expiring, which then makes publishers unable to sell the product any longer. While there’s no guarantee that this is what happened with Condemned, it’s our best guess without an explanation from Sega.

This Xbox 360 Delisting Could Be a Good Thing

Strangely, this delisting of Condemned: Criminal Origins on Xbox and PC could actually be a good thing. Other than licenses expiring, publishers will often also delist the old versions of certain games if a new remaster or remake is in the pipeline. This was most recently seen with System Shock 2, which had its original iteration removed from Steam to funnel customers toward buying the new remaster. While this strategy is typically controversial, it has happened plenty of times in the past.

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As such, perhaps the reason that Condemned has been taken off of digital stores is because it has a new remaster or remake of the game coming up. Although such a project hasn’t yet been announced, Sega (or another publisher) could have a surprise up its sleeve that it might share with fans soon. Such a remaster would even be a good way to gauge the current popularity of Condemned to see if fans would want a wholly new entry in the future.

For now, this remains nothing more than a theory, so don’t get too excited just yet. Still, if we hear anything new about why Condemned was delisted in the future, we’ll be sure to update you here on ComicBook.

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