Warner Bros. Discovery is delisting titles published by Adult Swim Games, leaving Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-Ality at risk.
Released in 2017, Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-Ality lets you play as a clone of Morty Smith and explore the Smith household. However, it could be permanently removed from digital stores as multiple developers confirm Warner Bros Discovery is delisting Adult Swim games in the next 60 days.
UploadVR contacted Owlchemy Labs to confirm if Virtual Rick-Ality is affected and if it would be republished. CEO Andrew Eiche provided this response:
Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality was done as a work for hire for Turner (now Warner Bros.) under the Adult Swim Games publisher. We do not have insight or creative control over the decisions that WB is going to make regarding general availability or specific platform availability of the game. We will be disappointed if they decide to remove the game from the store. It requires little to no maintenance to operate and is beloved by fans and VR enthusiasts.
While titles released under the Adult Swim Games label can be republished, Rick and Morty's licensing will complicate matters for Virtual Rick-Ality, whereas most of the affected titles are original properties. Soundodger+ developer Studio Bean also states that Warner Bros. Discovery refuses to transfer ownership of each game's existing Steam pages directly, forcing them to start from fresh.
"They are allowing me to republish to Steam (with 0 reviews and 0 wishlists), as long as I remove any and all mention of Adult Swim in the game, including team members in the credits," confirms Studio Bean. "I'm all for games preservation, and this ain't it chief."
This comes at a time when Warner Bros. Discovery is already facing heavy criticism for its preservation practices. Beyond video games, it's come under fire for removing TV shows from its digital streaming library for tax purposes, such as Final Space, alongside high-profile cancellations for nearly completed films like Batgirl, Scoob! Holiday Haunt and Coyote vs. Acme.
Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-Ality is currently available on the original PlayStation VR and PC VR via Steam and Rift. When asked if it would ever come to Quest or other VR platforms, Eiche informed us, "We don’t have the capacity to port the games with all our ongoing work, but we have encouraged [Warner Bros Discovery] to pursue additional ports."
Charles Singletary
Notice: This article was updated on March 19, 2024, to include Owlchemy Labs' response.
