{"id":53021,"date":"2025-10-16T13:13:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T04:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=53021"},"modified":"2025-10-16T13:13:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T04:13:14","slug":"12-classic-japanese-shoot-em-ups-to-be-permanently-removed-from-steam-due-to-publisher-license-expiring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/12-classic-japanese-shoot-em-ups-to-be-permanently-removed-from-steam-due-to-publisher-license-expiring\/","title":{"rendered":"12 classic Japanese shoot-em-ups to be permanently removed from Steam due to publisher license expiring"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Japanese publisher City Connection recently announced that they will be pulling twelve titles developed by Psikyo from Steam as of October 31 this year. As the reason behind this decision, the publishers cite expiration of their license agreement. While the games will be permanently unavailable for purchase on Steam after this date, the decision will reportedly not affect the sales of Psikyo\u2019s games on other platforms (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u3010Notice\u3011End of Sales for Psikyo Titles on Steam<br><br>Thank you very much for your continued support of our products.<br>Sales of Psikyo Steam titles will end on October 31, 2025, due to the expiration of the license agreement.<br>For more details, please visit the following page:\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Kz57XB4Ekk\">pic.twitter.com\/Kz57XB4Ekk<\/a><\/p>&mdash; CITY CONNECTION (@claricedisc) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/claricedisc\/status\/1978433778042143024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 15, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As detailed on the official <a href=\"https:\/\/psikyo-portal.com\/notice_251015.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Psikyo portal<\/a>, the following Steam titles will no longer be available for new purchases:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-palette-color-5-background-color has-background is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p>\u30fb STRIKERS 1945<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u30fb STRIKERS 1945 II<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u30fb STRIKERS 1945 III<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u30fb GUNBIRD<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u30fb GUNBIRD 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u30fb GUNBARICH<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u30fb Samurai Aces<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u30fb Samurai Aces Episode II: TENGAI<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u30fb Samurai Aces Episode III: SENGOKU CANNON<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u30fb SOL DIVIDE<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u30fb Dragon Blaze<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u30fb ZERO GUNNER 2-<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Psikyo was a Japanese game developer best known for their arcade shoot-em-ups like the Strikers 1945 and Gunbird series. Active throughout most of the 90s and the beginning of 2000s, the studio\u2019s signature style of games went on to be nicknamed \u201cPsikyo shooters,\u201d and is still popular among Japanese arcade gamers to this day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of 2007, the porting and distribution of Psikyo games has been handled by Zerodiv, which was acquired by City Connection in 2019. However, in February this year, Zerodiv was bought off by media company Edia, who currently holds the rights for a number of Telenet\u2019s retro titles. Given the circumstances, there have been some speculations that City Connection might have to eventually remove Psikyo\u2019s catalogue from all other platforms (unless they renew their contracts), however, as of now, the publisher states that all titles are playable on other platforms as usual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251016-530210001.jpg\" alt=\"Gunbird gameplay.\" class=\"wp-image-53025\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251016-530210001.jpg 768w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251016-530210001-380x214.jpg 380w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>One important thing to note is that those who have already purchased the games will still be able to access them via their Steam library and play them as usual. So if you\u2019re a PC gamer and want to try out some of Psikyo\u2019s classics before they\u2019re gone \u2013 now\u2019s the time to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related articles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/steam-hearts-and-advanced-variable-geo-saturn-tributes-xbox-one-releases-canceled-due-to-microsoft-asking-for-major-changes-to-originals-provocative-content\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Steam-Heart\u2019s and Advanced Variable Geo Saturn Tribute\u2019s Xbox One releases canceled due to Microsoft asking for major changes to originals\u2019 provocative content<br><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Starting October 31, twelve titles developed by Psikyo will become permanently unavailable for purchase on Steam.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":53024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-53021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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