Warner Bros., the now-defunct owner of Adult Swim Games publishing label, has reached out to developers regarding the return of ownership of their game’s Steam pages. This news came as a surprise as in March, it seemed like all Adult Swim Games were going to be delisted. Developers of games such as Small Radios Big Televisions and Duck Game have shared their excitement and relief after receiving emails from Warner Bros. confirming the return of their game’s store pages.
Landon Podbielski, developer of Duck Game, shared the good news on X saying, “Duck Game is safe!! The game is being returned to corptron along with its store pages on all platforms.” Owen Deery, the developer of Small Radios Big Televisions, had made his game free to download after hearing it would be removed from sale. However, he recently shared that ownership and store listings will be returned to him.
Initially, Warner Bros. informed some developers that they would not be transferring ownership back to the original studios due to resource limitations. However, a change of heart seems to have occurred, with emails being sent out to developers indicating a shift in policy. Super Mega Team, the developers of Rise & Shine, also confirmed that they had received similar emails from Warner Bros.
Adult Swim Games, established in 2005, have published numerous indie titles such as Robot Unicorn Attack, Jazzpunk, Westerado: Double Barreled, and Headlander. While the company did not retain IP rights to the games they published, they controlled the Steam store pages. Delisting these pages would have resulted in the loss of valuable Steam reviews for developers, forcing them to rebuild their reputation from scratch within the marketplace.
The transfer of ownership of a Steam store page is a simple process that can be completed in just a few clicks. However, in cases where developers themselves are no longer active, some games may never make a return to Steam. This uncertainty still poses a risk for some developers who may not have the opportunity to reclaim their games. Hopefully, more developers will come forward with positive updates as Warner Bros. continues to reach out to them.
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