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Suddenly, after 14 years, Sega is delisting 60 classic games, destroying one of the only legal sources of ROMs on the internet

Harry November 8, 2024

Sega suddenly announced that 60 classic games from its back catalog were about to be removed from Steam. It’s not like there’ll be no way to play, say, Streets of Rage once these versions of the games are retired, but the delistings are notable for a few reasons; You can find legally purchasable classic game ROMs everywhere on the internet.

The full list of removed games is available from Sega official support siteThis also confirms that these games will be removed on December 6th at 11:59pm PT. The list also includes the Sega Genesis Classics collection, which includes a total of 60 games on Steam, as well as several Dreamcast ports. We’re talking things like Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, and Phantasy Star IV; They are all true classics of the 16-bit era.

On consoles, this collection is, as the name suggests, a collection, and on Switch, Xbox and PlayStation it is also removed from the list. Each Genesis game is available separately on Steam, with most selling for $0.99. The emulator that comes with the games isn’t a particularly good one, but it does have nice features like Steam Workshop support that lets you download your own ROM hacks.

But the real reason to buy these games is that once you install them, you can just browse through that installation filter and find a ROM file to use however you want; There are no data mining or DRM encrypted files to bypass. Only raw ROM files that you have purchased legally. This means you can drop these ROMs into the emulator of your choice and play as you wish, completely legally. Short of getting a USB cartridge reader and offloading the games yourself, raw ROMs are nearly impossible to obtain without pirated, making this collection particularly notable among retro re-releases on PC.

The real question is why Sega suddenly chose to remove these games from the list. The titles were released between 2010 and 2012, meaning they’ve all been available for over a decade without issue. However, three separate games in the collection were removed from the list in 2022. The entire Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy was removed just before the release of Sonic Origins, a series-exclusive pack. slandered by its own developers.

we know Sega has big plans for old IP, with revivals of many classic games in the worksIt’s also possible that the company is planning some kind of new classic collection to replace this one in the near future. December 7th, the day after these games launch, will mark the one-year anniversary of Sega’s big Power Surge reveal, so the timing is certainly notable. Let’s hope whatever comes next gives these classics the treatment they deserve.

New versions of Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, and my favorite beat ’em up from 34 years ago could make 2024 and beyond very special indeed.