Activision-Hasbro deal expires, Transformers games pulled from digital stores
War for Cybertron, Transformers Devastation and more no longer available to buy as download
Hasbro's licensing agreement with Activision has expired, prompting a purge of its Transformers games from all digital marketplaces.
The toy firm confirmed the news to IGN, restating that since the deal is no longer in effect, Activision has had to pull its Transformers games from Steam, PlayStation Store and the Xbox Store.
The removal took place towards the end of 2017, and includes the likes of Transformers: War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron by High Moon Studios, as well as Platinum Games' Transformers Devastation.
Activision's first title as part of this deal was Transformers: The Game, tying in with the 2007 movie that started Michael Bay's ongoing spate of robot skirmish films.
Hasbro has yet to disclose whether it has plans for future PC and console games based on the robots in disguise but a number of mobile titles built around the franchise remain available and operational, such as Space Ape's Transformers: Earth Wars.
Such a purge is common when a licensing deal expires, with Activision having to remove several collections of games over the years. In 2013, it lost the James Bond licence and pulled Blood Stone, Goldeneye and Quantum of Solace from stores.
A year later several of the Marvel games Activision had been releasing on an annual basis, including Deadpool and various Spider-Man titles, were dropped. Last year, Activision was also compelled to remove its Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games.
Licensed titles once made up the bulk of Activision's portfolio, but the publisher has instead focused on its own IP over the last year, maintaining the popularity of the best-selling Call of Duty games while also growing its new Destiny franchise.