Steam players are furious as popular game is removed from the store without notice

GAMES are often removed from storefronts, but there is usually notice from the developer or publisher.

This gives people the chance to purchase the game while it is still available, giving companies a final boost to sales.

However, this wasn’t the case with a recent removal from the Steam storefront, one of gaming’s most popular marketplaces.

Third-person shooter Spec Ops: The Line was reviewed fairly well, but it made a big splash at launch thanks to its controversial storyline.

Unlike most shooters, it portrayed the darker side of war and showed the detrimental effect it can have on your mental health.

The horrifying white phosphorus scene triggered a number of conversations about the role gaming can put on player choice.

Despite its place in video game history, Spec Ops: The Line has now been removed from Steam without notice.

It is still available to players on other platforms, such as Xbox, GOG and other third-party PC storefronts.

If you visit the store page for the game on Steam, you will see the notice that: “Spec Ops: The Line is no longer available on the Steam store.”

Below it, you are still able to download the demo for Spec Ops: The Line but this only features a small part of the game.

On social media people are speculating that the game was removed due to a licensing issue with music.

This can frequently happen with older games as companies have to remove them from stores due to no longer holding the rights to the music used.

However, there is no evidence of this, and it seems strange that it would still be available on third-party PC sites if this were the case.

We’ll just have to wait for further notice to discover if the game will come back to Steam or not.

If you want to read more about Steam, check out the rise in game prices due to Deluxe Editions.

Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.