Steam users in the UK might be a little confused if they try to buy select PlayStation-published games on PC at the moment since some of their store pages have mysteriously disappeared. Don’t worry, PlayStation hasn’t started unreleasing games on Steam, although exactly why some of its games have been pulled from Steam still isn’t entirely clear.
PlayStation Games Go Missing On Steam
The issue was flagged on Wednesday and was first noticed by Steam users in the UK, although it’s unclear if other parts of the world have been affected. PlayStation has quickly extinguished any chatter suggesting the games have been quietly delisted via an official statement issued to VGC.
“We are aware of an issue affecting the availability of select titles on Steam in the UK,” a PlayStation spokesperson told the site. “We are working with Valve to address the issue. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
That statement was issued on Wednesday night. It’s now Thursday morning as I type this, and whatever the problem is, PlayStation and Valve don’t seem to know how to fix it. Among the affected titles is Helldivers 2. Visit its Steam page right now, and you’re met with an error message telling you the game isn’t currently available in your region, at least if you’re in the UK.
Which Games Are Affected
The same applies to Horizon Forbidden West, although as far as I can tell, those are the only two titles affected by the unintentional delisting. Its predecessor Horizon Zero Dawn is still available, as are all of the other first-party PlayStation games you can buy on Steam, including Marvel’s Spider-Man, Returnal, and both of the Norse God of War games.
If it weren’t for PlayStation’s shift away from putting its games on PC, the sudden disappearance of two of its games on Steam, whether accidental or not, would barely be news. Coupled with PlayStation’s plans to stop porting its single-player first-party blockbusters to PC, despite the quick explanation that this is a mistake that is being dealt with and swiftly fixed, there will be some spinning conspiracy theories that this is a precursor to something more nefarious.
It might still sound wild to some to suggest that certain PlayStation games might be removed from PC, but considering the generational run of bad faith PlayStation is currently on, it doesn’t feel beyond the realms of possibility. Not only has the decision to stop eventually porting its new games to PC upset a lot of people, but the announcement that PlayStation will stop putting its games on discs from 2028 is perhaps the most unpopular thing the studio has ever done.
The removal of PlayStation games that are already on Steam is still incredibly unlikely. Especially multiplayer games like Helldivers 2. That, and other multiplayer PlayStation games, will release and stay on multiple platforms, as that’s needed to keep their player bases as high as possible.
- Released
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February 8, 2024
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
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Arrowhead Game Studios, Nixxes
- Publisher(s)
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Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation Publishing
