Xbox removes purchased games from user libraries
In July 2026, three paid Xbox games from developer Creepy Brothers, Creepy Tale, Creepy Tale 2, & Strike Force Kitty, were hard delisted from the Microsoft Store, meaning they were pulled from sale & revoked from the digital libraries of players who had already bought them.[1][2] A copy already installed on a console still runs, but the purchase history has been nullified & the games can no longer be re-downloaded.[2] TrueAchievements reported the removals on July 21, 2026 & attributed them to a contract dispute in which developer Creepy Brothers says publisher No Gravity Games has not paid royalties for several years;[1] purchases on the store are governed by the Microsoft Services Agreement, which states that software is licensed, not sold.[3]
Background
[edit | edit source]An ordinary Xbox Store delisting removes a game from sale but lets existing owners keep downloading & playing it. A hard delisting goes further: the game is removed from the store and also from owners' libraries, so it can no longer be downloaded without a workaround.[1] A hard-delisted title also loses its Xbox Store page entirely, which is what blocks owners from re-downloading it.[4]
Removal of Creepy Tale, Creepy Tale 2, and Strike Force Kitty
[edit | edit source]The three games come from developer Creepy Brothers & were published by No Gravity Games.[1] Owners who had bought Creepy Tale, Creepy Tale 2, or Strike Force Kitty can no longer download the titles from their Xbox libraries.[2] An installed copy still runs, but the purchase history has been nullified & the download option removed, so the game cannot be reinstalled.[2] TrueAchievements told owners not to uninstall the games for that reason.[1]
Developer dispute with No Gravity Games
[edit | edit source]After TrueAchievements contacted the studio, Creepy Brothers said the removals came from a dispute with No Gravity Games, which the developer says has violated the terms of the agreement and has not paid royalties for several years.[1] No Gravity Games did not respond to requests for comment from TrueAchievements[1] or GameRant.[2]
Asked whether the titles would be relisted, Creepy Brothers told TrueAchievements:
It's a very slow and complicated process. I hope the games will return to stores with a new publisher.
License terms and digital ownership
[edit | edit source]Digital purchases on the Microsoft Store on Xbox are licenses rather than sales, under the Microsoft Services Agreement that governs the store.[3] Its software-license section, Section 8, states:
The software is licensed, not sold, and Microsoft reserves all rights to the software not expressly granted by Microsoft, whether by implication, estoppel, or otherwise.
On availability, Section 6 of the agreement states:
The Services, Third-Party Apps and Services, or material or products offered through the Services may be unavailable from time to time, may be offered for a limited time, or may vary depending on your region or device.
The same section limits Microsoft's liability, stating that Microsoft is not liable for any disruption or loss you may suffer as a result.[3]
Prior Xbox hard delistings
[edit | edit source]Bullets & Brains, also published by No Gravity Games but developed by Ajvar Studio, was hard delisted a month before the Creepy Brothers titles; TrueAchievements said the reason for its removal was unknown.[1] In November 2025, PureXbox reported that two other games, Schedule 1: Dope Empire & Cairn, had been hard delisted from the Xbox Store.[4]
Consumer response
[edit | edit source]GameRant framed the removals as part of a wider debate over digital ownership, arguing that a purchase a storefront can nullify at any time is not ownership.[2] It called the delisting another way someone's gaming library can just shrink with no input, & noted that players also lose access when online-only games shut down their servers.[2]
Two other Xbox library losses drew attention in July 2026 through a different mechanism. On July 14, 2026, VICE reported that a player said Microsoft deleted his 25-year-old Xbox account after it was hacked, wiping out thousands of dollars' worth of digital games.[5] On July 12, 2026, Engadget reported that a Brazilian court gave Microsoft 15 days to restore a suspended account & its library or face a penalty of 150 reais (about $30) a day, capped at 1,500 reais (about $300), plus 2,000 reais (about $400) in damages.[6] Both cases involved deletion or suspension of an account rather than a storefront delisting.[5][6]
See also
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Sean Carey (2026-07-21). "Three Xbox games hard delisted from Microsoft Store over publisher dispute". TrueAchievements. Archived from the original on 2026-07-24. Retrieved 2026-07-24.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Joshua Duckworth (2026-07-22). "3 Xbox Games Have Been Completely Shut Down, Removed from Owners' Libraries". Game Rant. Archived from the original on 2026-07-24. Retrieved 2026-07-24.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Microsoft (2025-07-30). "Microsoft Services Agreement". Microsoft. Archived from the original on 2026-07-24. Retrieved 2026-07-24.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Fraser Gilbert (2025-11-27). "Three More Games Have Been 'Hard Delisted' And Removed Off The Xbox Store Entirely". Pure Xbox. Archived from the original on 2025-12-10. Retrieved 2026-07-24.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Brent Koepp (2026-07-14). "Xbox Player Loses Thousands in Digital Games After Microsoft Deletes 25-Year-Old Account". VICE. Retrieved 2026-07-24.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Jackson Chen (2026-07-12). "Xbox gamer wins lawsuit against Microsoft to restore account and digital library". Engadget. Retrieved 2026-07-24.