2K has confirmed that Spec Ops: The Line has been removed from sale due to expiring “partner licenses”.

Yager’s controversial military shooter Spec Ops: The Line was pulled from Steam and other stores last night. At the time, no one seemed to know why – not even the game’s designer and director.

Spec Ops: The Line came out in 2012, it didn’t sell particularly well – it was a decent third-person military shooter that fell in between games like Modern Warfare 3 and Black Ops 2, and that’s for a game difficult place.

But we still talk about it today because of the story. It’s an Apocalypse Now-style trip to hell that dives headfirst into the horrors of war and the trauma it inflicts on soldiers and civilians. With moments (one in particular) that make Modern Warfare 2’s infamous “No Russian” level almost seem like a pleasant getaway.

Basically, it’s worth a try if you like military shooting games. But that will be difficult now that it’s no longer available on Steam. The deletion was spotted by Wario64 last night. It was subsequently removed from other stores, including Fanatical and Gamesplanet. Strangely, it’s still available for purchase on GOG and Humble (at least for now). Also, for Xbox consoles. (However, due to the cancellation, the price on reseller sites such as Eneba immediately increased tenfold…)

Spec Ops: The Line designer and director Cory David was caught off guard by the removal

“Makes no sense — especially because the themes portrayed in SpecOpsTheLine are more relevant now than ever,” tweeted Davis. “Why has this happened?”

The reason for removing Spec Ops: The Line was not initially revealed, but many speculated that expiring licenses were the culprits.

There is quite a lot of licensed music in the Spec Ops soundtrack. From artists like Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple, Martha and the Vandellas and Björk. Hendrix’s famous performance, the Star Spangled Banner, plays in the background of the menu.

In the end, those who thought such things were right. In a recent statement, a representative of 2K Games said that “Spec Ops: The Line will no longer be available on online storefronts, as several partnership licenses related to the game are expiring.”

“Players who have purchased the game can still download and play the game uninterrupted,” the representative said. “2K would like to thank our community of players who have supported the game, and we look forward to bringing you more offerings from our label throughout this year and beyond.”

The representative added that the game will remain available in some other stores as the cancellation processes are different.

It’s not too unusual for games to be withdrawn from sale when content licenses expire. Music is probably the most common cause. But any kind of licensed content – cars, archival footage – can lead to the cessation of sales after a certain period of time. When that happens, publishers have a choice. They renew the license, remove the infringing content, or stop the whole thing altogether.

It’s not entirely surprising that 2K chose the latter option in this case. Despite its fame and importance, Spec Ops: The Line is 12 years old, and even in its prime, it wasn’t exactly a hit. Maybe one day, we’ll get the remaster that some fans have been hoping for…

Source: Gamedeveloper.com, Steam, X (1, 2), Eneba

Spec Ops: The Line has been delisted from Steam https://t.co/DDxVUaOaWi

still available on Xbox Store and other PC 3rd party stores pic.twitter.com/JIW8JgitGv

— Wario64 (@Wario64) January 29, 2024

Makes no sense – especially because the themes portrayed in @SpecOpsTheLine are more relevant now than ever. Why has this happened @2k @Steam ? https://t.co/BnHnxzQRPp

— Cory Davis (@Snak3Fist) January 30, 2024