Spec Ops: The Line director says he's "devastated" by its digital delisting, but promises "this is not the end"

After its publisher announced that Spec Ops: The Line would be removed from all digital storefronts, its director has said the move is "devastating."

Yesterday, January 30, Spec Ops: The Line was suddenly delisted from Steam without warning, and without an explanation. Shortly after, publisher 2K confirmed that the shooter would be delisted from all digital storefronts, including GOG and the Xbox store, due to the expiration of "several partnership licenses."

At the time, original game director Cory Davis took to Twitter to write that the move made "no sense." Now, after the news that Spec Ops will be delisted from all digital storefronts, not just Steam, Davis has tweeted that he's "devastated personally," but promised in the tweet below that this is "not the end for Spec Ops: The Line."

It's difficult to know how Davis will fight for Specs Ops: The Line's future, when its publisher isn't revealing which licenses have expired. It's highly likely that 2K, not original Specs Ops developer Yager Development, owns the rights to the shooter, and what's more, Davis no longer works at the Berlin-based studio.

Elsewhere, Spec Ops level designer Enrique Colinet has said in the tweets below that he feels "betrayed" by the delisting. Colinet writes that he remains grateful to the 2K producers who, at the time, saved Spec Ops from cancellation "multiple times," and that he still feels proud of his work on the shooter.

Right now at least, Yager is yet to comment on the situation surrounding Spec Ops: The Line. It's worth pointing out the studio isn't owned by 2K, and operates entirely independently, so while the studio is free to comment on the delisting of Spec Ops, it might well not be privy to information known about the licensing issues.

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