10 Popular Video Games You Can't Play Anymore
Gone, but never forgotten.
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00:00I'm Jess from WhatCulture and here are 10 popular video games you can't play anymore.
00:0510.
00:06Friday the 13th The Game
00:072017 asymmetrical survival horror Friday the 13th The Game established itself as a cult
00:14favorite, even with its bugs, limited maps, and jankiness.
00:18Many were willing to forgive the game given its beloved IP, the joy of its asymmetrical
00:22horror format that capitalized very effectively on the classic trope of big bad villain vs
00:28camp counselors, and the built-in replayability of trying to outsmart or massacre all your
00:33friends depending on your character.
00:35Unfortunately, if you're going to make a game featuring the one and only Jason Voorhees,
00:39you're going to want to make sure you've got those IP licensing ducks in a row, which publisher
00:44Gun Media absolutely did not.
00:47In what came as an especially brutal announcement for the 30,000 plus Kickstarter backers who
00:51funded the game, just one year after its release, Gun Media cancelled all of Friday's future
00:57DLC and content updates due to a rights and ownership dispute between the movie's screenwriter
01:02Victor Miller and its director Sean S. Cunningham.
01:05The film lawsuit threw an immovable wrench in the works for the video game, which made
01:09it impossible for them to move forward, and although it received a new development partner
01:13in September of 2018 after the lawsuit was put to bed, it was already the beginning of
01:18the end.
01:19A Switch version of the game, called Friday the 13th Ultimate Slasher Switch Edition,
01:23yes that is the full official title, did arrive in August of 2019, but a year later
01:28Gun Media revealed they weren't making any money off the game.
01:32As a result, servers were switched to peer-to-peer only and the game was delisted in December
01:36of 2023 due to the license expiring.
01:39Technically, if you own it, you can still play it, but the servers are due to be turned
01:43up at the end of 2024.
01:46In a really nice last minute move though, Gun Media, who is now Gun Interactive, boosted
01:50all players who still own the game to the level cap and gave them all the legendary
01:54perks, challenge skulls and stuff like that, so at least they've got a little something
01:59for the rest of the time they have the game.
02:019.
02:02P.T.
02:03I think legally I can't make a list about popular games that are no longer playable
02:06without including P.T., so I'll throw it up at the top here and then get to some other
02:10great games you might not know about.
02:13Great games, that is, which you can't play, because that's what the list is about.
02:16Man, this is a bummer.
02:18Anyway, on to P.T.
02:19A gift from iconic video game creator Hideo Kojima, P.T. was a free playable teaser that
02:24was intended to set up his upcoming game, the now-cancelled Silent Hills.
02:29The game, which was skewered by the fractured relationship between Kojima and publisher
02:33Konami, would have been directed by both Kojima and famed film director Guillermo del Toro.
02:38But enough about that game you'll never be able to play, let's talk about the game preceding
02:43it that you'll never be able to play.
02:45Unless it's already on your console, then lucky you.
02:47P.T. was something of a unique revelation in the horror gaming genre when it was released.
02:52It was an absolutely terrifying yet narratively dense compact horror experience that called
02:57upon players to execute some genuinely challenging puzzling and endure some of the greatest jump
03:03scares the medium has ever produced.
03:05The teaser wrapped up with a trailer for the upcoming full game, Silent Hills, which was
03:09officially cancelled in 2015 to the dismay of fans.
03:13Despite being downloaded over a hundred times, the teaser was pulled from the PlayStation
03:17Store alongside the cancellation.
03:208.
03:21Warhawk
03:22Developed by Incognito Entertainment and assisted in development by a little studio you may
03:27have heard of called Santa Monica, Warhawk was a multiplayer shooter that came out for
03:32the PS3 in 2007.
03:34As these things go, server issues dampened the critical and player response during its
03:39launch window, but eventually, once those were ironed out, a clever multiplayer experience
03:44with expert, balancing, exciting flight mechanics and frenetic involved combat scenarios emerged.
03:50The game received almost universally positive reviews and drew in an unsurprisingly large
03:55number of players.
03:57Despite its dedicated fanbase, it was decided that the servers would be shut down in January
04:02of 2019.
04:03While that's an entirely respectable innings for a multiplayer game, understandably hardcore
04:08fans were still super disappointed.
04:10Since then, some have opted to meddle with emulators and programs that convert LAN support
04:15into online support to crack back into Warhawk.
04:18And according to the game's subreddit, a little community of diehards are still dropping into
04:22matches today.
04:237.
04:24Nosgoth
04:25A cult favourite in no small part due to its reveal as the first entry in the iconic Legacy
04:30of Kain series in just about 10 years, Nosgoth borrowed from the Legacy of Kain universe
04:36and used it as a foundation for a free-to-play multiplayer game that pitted humans against
04:41vampires.
04:42While vamps would use brute force and melee finesse, human fighters would use ranged weaponry
04:46and projectiles.
04:48Featuring two modes, a spin-on domination and deathmatch, players would battle it out
04:53against each other and the clock.
04:55If we're being super technical about it, this game didn't actually come out.
04:59Given it was being created by Square Enix and Psyonix, you'd expect an absolute slam
05:05but things got rocky quickly.
05:06The closed alpha kicked off in 2013 and its open beta began in early 2015, but just over
05:12a year later in 2016, Square Enix shut it down for good, claiming the audience they
05:17expected wasn't there.
05:19Its fanbase was understandably devastated and reportedly gathered in the game's main
05:24city on the day of the server shutdown.
05:27That is equally so heartening and so sad, but if there's anything we know about the
05:31internet, it's that if a bunch of people want something enough, they're gonna find
05:35a way to get it.
05:36In 2022, fans of the game posted online, with instructions helping people modify the game
05:41files in order to let them play on private servers.
05:44The game currently has an active, formerly private and now public Discord, so that people
05:49who still want to play matches even this long after the game's official cancellation can
05:54continue to do so.
05:556.
05:56Affordable Space Adventures
05:58Easy puzzler Affordable Space Adventures was made by Swedish game developer Nifflas for
06:03the Wii U in 2015.
06:05When Nintendo revealed that the Wii U eShop was set to close very early last year, a bunch
06:09of clever fans picked up everything they could before it was gone.
06:14On many a list was Wii U eShop exclusive Affordable Space Adventures, especially because, and
06:20let's be clear, this wasn't exclusive to this particular Nintendo platform, but the Wii U
06:24was the only platform it was made for, period.
06:28The game cleverly incorporated the Wii U gamepad, which you would use to control your
06:32spaceship, and it even featured a popular cooperative multiplayer mode that drew in
06:36plenty of fans.
06:37It was pretty universally celebrated across the board for its fun and engaging mechanics,
06:42clever puzzles, and stylish, vibrant visuals.
06:45So in short, it's a really great game.
06:48A really great game that you can't play anymore, I'll say it again, this is a bummer of a list.
06:535.
06:54Blur
06:56Mortal Kombat Racer Blur was released by British studio Bizarre Creations in 2010 and published
07:01by Activision, who by the end of this video you're going to have some beef with because
07:05this isn't the only game they shut down.
07:08Integrating arcade-style handling mechanics with real-world vehicles and locations, players
07:13would collect both offensive and defensive power-ups with the intention of taking out
07:17their racing competitors and heading to the front of the pack.
07:20Blur featured both a career mode and a multiplayer mode that supported split-screen for up to
07:254 players, or online for up to 20 players.
07:28Despite picking up plenty of highly positive reviews praising Blur's exhilarating multiplayer
07:33component in particular, Activision shut the game down alongside studio Bizarre Creations
07:38than a year after it came out in February of 2011.
07:41The publisher claimed Blur didn't find a commercial audience and couldn't crack the current state
07:46of the racing genre.
07:47Unfortunately for fans, it's probably the combination of its commercial disappointment
07:51to Apti and also the cost of the IP for licensing all those real-world cars that put the final
07:57nails in its coffin.
07:584.
07:59Knockout City
08:00In another case of the official servers are dead, long-lived fan servers, Knockout City
08:06might have been technically shut down in the middle of last year due to dated systems requiring
08:10expensive reworking as well as low player retention, but it's not all bad news.
08:16The 2021 dodgeball-themed multiplayer experience from Velen Studios lived a pretty short life
08:21before it was shut down in mid-2023.
08:24That's even given the fact that it went free-to-play in 2022.
08:27The self-described dodge-brawl game was available for free on EA Play and Xbox Game Pass.
08:34It attracted two million players in its launch week and won fans for its uniqueness, style,
08:38balance between embracing newcomers and rewarding mastery, and consistent content updates.
08:44Upon its shutdown, the devs kindly released software that let players host their own servers,
08:49so the game is still alive.
08:51Though the updates and range of skill levels among players are certainly missed.
08:553.
08:56Transformers War for Cybertron
08:57Third-person shooter Transformers War for Cybertron was developed by High Moon Studios
09:02and published by Activision.
09:06It's not the only fan-favorite Transformers game to drop off shelves and digital storefronts,
09:11but it's a representation of the ones that have been loved and lost.
09:14The game was announced in late 2009 and came out a year later.
09:18Impressively, its multiplayer servers didn't run all the way up until 2020.
09:23Featured in a long list of legacy Activision games, for which the publisher opted to discontinue
09:27support, this one came as an especially tough blow due to its rabid fanbase who adored the
09:33game's varied and engaging multiplayer in particular.
09:36It was in January of 2018 that Activision's license with Hasbro expired, leading to both
09:41Transformers games being pulled from storefronts.
09:44A Change.org petition was launched to save the original and its sequel and gained almost
09:4915,000 signatures, but Activision and Hasbro haven't announced any more information on
09:53the game's future.
09:552.
09:56Minecraft Story Mode
09:57The combo of Telltale's unfortunate shutdown in 2018, as well as the grim reality of trying
10:03to keep games alive when they require IP licensing, was always going to make things tricky for
10:08Telltale Games.
10:09As we've well and truly learned this far down the list, it's a needle to thread between
10:13capitalizing off a popular IP to pull in an existing audience for a game, and needing
10:18to actually purchase a license to said IP for all the years you intend to support and
10:23sell said game.
10:24In the case of both seasons of Minecraft Story Mode, the game was one of the many victims
10:29of the aforementioned studio closure due to bankruptcy, and in mid-2019, it disappeared
10:34from storefronts.
10:35Though the studio has since been revived, many of the licenses to the various Telltale
10:39Games IPs were not renewed.
10:41If you've got it downloaded already, you're good to go, otherwise you're out of luck.
10:46The game was available between the end of 2018 and 2022 on Netflix, but is no longer
10:51on the platform.
10:52Because it's 2024.
10:54This entry is not riddled with the hottest or most useful of takes.
10:581.
10:59City of Heroes
11:00This list has made it pretty clear that two things will almost always foreshadow the end
11:03of the line for a game – licensed IP and dedicated servers.
11:07This goes doubly for massively multiplayer online games.
11:11Unless, of course, you're World of Warcraft, which will almost certainly outlast the inevitable
11:14heat death of the Earth.
11:16It'll just be cockroaches and World of Warcraft.
11:18Not only will WoW probably persevere long after all of us are gone, it's gone some
11:23way to stamping out almost all of its competitors, and fan-favourite superhero-themed MMO City
11:28of Heroes was no exception.
11:30The 2004 online RPG by Cryptic Studios and NCSoft lets you build a character with one
11:35of five different origins, customisable powers, and unique archetypes.
11:40A suite of free updates expanded upon the game in various ways between 2004 and 2012,
11:46and an expansion called City of Villains in 2005 ushered in villain archetypes, as well
11:51as new PvP zones among other changes.
11:54Despite its critical and commercial success, not to mention a consumer-friendly practice
11:58of not deleting player characters even if their subscription was inactive or completely
12:03abandoned, Paragon Studios, who became the new developer, was disbanded in 2012.
12:08The game was no longer supported by the end of that year, and players were less than happy,
12:13doing everything in their power to keep the game alive.
12:16In 2019, it was publicly learned that a private server for City of Heroes had been running
12:20since the game was shut down.
12:22That server was then shut down, but the source code it was built on was distributed, so now
12:26there's lots of little baby public servers running, and fortunately NCSoft has not sought
12:31to stamp them out.