Xbox hard delisting games: three titles leave libraries
Three Xbox titles — Creepy Tale, Creepy Tale 2 and Strike Force Kitty — have received the rare xbox hard delisting games treatment, meaning purchased copies can no longer be redownloaded from Microsoft's store. Developer Creepy Brothers blames publisher No Gravity Games for unpaid royalties. Only players who still have the games installed can keep playing.
Key Takeaways
- Creepy Tale, Creepy Tale 2 and Strike Force Kitty were hard-delisted on Xbox, so owners cannot redownload them.
- Creepy Brothers says No Gravity Games violated their agreement and unpaid royalties for several years forced the removals.
- Players who already had the games installed can keep playing until they delete those installs.
- Similar removals are expected on PlayStation and Nintendo; the games have already left the Nintendo eShop this week.
- No major AAA Xbox title has been hard-delisted in the modern era, according to reporting on the dispute.
What does Xbox hard delisting mean for buyers?
Ordinary delistings pull a game from sale but usually leave past purchases downloadable. Hard delisting goes further: the title disappears from the store and from owners' libraries, blocking fresh installs.
According to eTeknix, the three Creepy Brothers games worked on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. After removal, only consoles that still hold the installs can run them. Delete the data and you lose access.
That gap between paying once and keeping permanent access is why digital ownership keeps drawing scrutiny — the same tension fans of tangible assets debate when comparing fleeting licenses with lasting possessions, from collectibles to luxury real estate and dream homes.
Why were Creepy Tale and Strike Force Kitty removed?
TrueAchievements flagged the hard delistings, and Pure Xbox reports a developer–publisher fight behind them. On July 21, 2026, Creepy Brothers posted that the games left stores because No Gravity Games allegedly broke the deal and paid no royalties for years.
"I'm very sorry that players have to suffer because of terrible publishers, but we had no choice," the studio wrote. It hopes the titles return with a new publisher, calling the process slow and complicated.
Yahoo Tech notes Creepy Tale and Creepy Tale 2 were already pulled from Xbox libraries and are set for PlayStation Store delisting. Pure Xbox adds they vanished from the Nintendo eShop this week, with Switch redownload status still unclear. Another No Gravity Games title, Bullets & Brains, was also said to have been delisted recently.
Can players still install these hard-delisted Xbox games?
Sometimes hard-delisted Xbox games remain installable via an achievements page Game Hub button if you played them before. Pure Xbox says that workaround does not appear to work for these three.
Installed copies remain playable for now. On PlayStation, Creepy Brothers indicated customers with the app installed can keep using it while store removals proceed.
Microsoft has not publicly explained why this dispute required a hard delisting rather than a standard store pull. Pure Xbox stresses the case looks isolated to this publisher conflict, not a signal that every Xbox library entry is at risk.