Spec Ops: The Line has been suddenly delisted from Steam

Spec Ops: The Line is MIA on PC’s largest gaming storefront

Update – 2K has confirmed expiring licensing agreements have forced them to remove Spec Ops: The Line from sale. The game remains on GOG, but for a limited time.

Spec Ops: The Line’s an standout shooter. This is not necessarily due to its gameplay or unique mechanics, but due to its narrative and themes. The game is unlike any other shooter from the 2010s, and while the game was considered a commercial failure by 2K, it’s now considered a cult classic.

Without any listed reason, Spec Ops: The Line has been delisted from Steam. Existing owners of the game can still play the title, but gamers can no longer purchase the game on PC’s largest storefront. Strangely, the game remains available on GOG, and on the Xbox Marketplace. Right now, GOG are selling the game with an 80% discount.

At launch, the United Arab Emirates banned the game from sale in its territory. This was due to its depiction of Dubai in a destroyed state. Below is a description of the game and its setting.

Spec Ops: The Line is a new original title from 2K Games that features provocative and gripping Third-Person modern military Shooter gameplay designed to challenge players’ morality by putting them in the middle of unspeakable situations where unimaginable choices affecting human life must be made. Features include, a gripping, storyline reminiscent of Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness but set in a ruined Dubai, tactical squad-based Delta Force gameplay throughout a horizontally and vertically oriented world and devastating sandstorms which can be used in combat.

It’s been 6 months since Dubai was wiped off the map by a cataclysmic sandstorm. Thousands of lives were lost, including those of American soldiers sent to evacuate the city. Today, the city lies buried under sand, the world’s most opulent ruin. Now, a mysterious radio signal is picked-up from Dubai, and a Delta Recon Team is sent to infiltrate the city. Their mission is simple: Locate survivors and radio for Evac. What they find is a city in the grip of war. To save Dubai, they’ll have to find the man at the heart of its madness-Col. John Konrad.

On Steam, it simply states that “Spec Ops: The Line is no longer available on the Steam store.” 2K has not listed a reason for the game’s removal from Steam. There is speculation that expiring music licenses are the reason behind the game’s removal. That said, the game remains available on other storefronts, making that reasoning seem unlikely.

Join the discussion on Spec Ops: The Line’s Steam delisting on the OC3D Forums.

Mark Campbell

A Northern Irish father, husband, and techie that works to turn tea and coffee into articles when he isn’t painting his extensive minis collection or using things to make other things.

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