One of the best arcade racers is about to disappear
I haven't read Brendan Keogh's book The Videogame Industry Does Not Exist, but I believe I can make a water tight counter-argument in my new book proposal, If The Videogame Industry Doesn't Exist, How Come I Hate It So Much?.
From June 1st, Horizon Chase Turbo, its predecessor and all DLC will be delisted from all storefronts, preventing people from buying one of the best arcade racers of the past decade.
We're used to racing games being delisted because they often contain licensed cars and those licenses expire. The Horizon games do not contain any licensed cars, however.
We're also sadly used to racing games becoming unplayable, because they were 'always online' in some nebulous way and their servers are switched off. Horizon Chase Turbo's only online component was leaderboards, however, which were already disabled back in 2023. What's happening now wouldn't fall afoul of the Stop Killing Games movement, because owners will still be able to play the game.
"Couch multiplayer is back." Aaaaand it's gone again.
In short, Horizon Chase Turbo remaining available to purchase via digital storefronts wouldn't cost its developers anything.
The announcement that the games would be delisted didn't contain any explanation of why the