Sega plans to remove a large number of classic games from digital stores by the end of 2024, likely to make way for new versions of these titles.
More than 62 games will be affected across Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PlayStation, and Steam, with Steam seeing the most impact. Steam will lose 62 games, while only 12 will be removed from Xbox. On Nintendo Switch and PlayStation, only the Sega Genesis Classics collection will be delisted.
This shift makes sense since many classic Sega games are already available on Steam for PC and Mac, making it easier to adapt them for these platforms than for consoles like the Switch.
Some fan-favorite games that will no longer be available after December 6th, 11:59 p.m. EST, include Altered Beast, Bonanza Bros., Comix Zone, Crazy Taxi, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, Ecco: The Tides of Time, Eternal Champions, Golden Axe, Sonic Spinball, Streets of Rage, ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron, and many more. For a full list, check Sega’s announcement.
If you already own any of these games, you’ll still be able to play them—they won’t be removed from your library. The delisting only affects new purchases.
This isn’t Sega’s first delisting. They often remove classic titles before releasing reboots, likely to build demand for the new versions. Upcoming reboots include Crazy Taxi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, and Shinobi—all of which will be part of the December delisting. However, Sega hasn’t announced release dates for these reboots yet, so it’s unclear if the two are directly connected.
If you’ve been eyeing any of these classic Sega games, now is the time to grab them before they’re gone on December 6th, 2024.
