As of last night, Atari has pulled the classic 2004 PC game Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 from both Steam and GoG, resulting in the game no longer able to be purchased anywhere digitally. Older games in the series, such as 1 and 2 have been unaffected, and are still up on Steam's site. This is apparently due to an issue with expiring license rights, according to Good Old Games staff, between developer Frontier Developments and publisher Atari. Although a press release from Atari themselves prove that they extended their ownership of the Rollercoaster Tycoon license until 2022.

This also follows a pending lawsuit from Frontier against Atari, saying that during the time that Atari went bankrupt in 2013, they worked with the company to figure out how to pay royalties. However, when Atari began making profits again recently, Frontier claimed that they were not being paid the correct amount (resulting in them not being paid an owed 2.2 million dollars) and were refused when they demanded a sales report for Atari's earnings.

It's not known if or when the game will be re-listed, but digital storefront owners are looking into talking with Frontier to get the game back up for purchase.

Source

 

[sarkwalvein]

Because they come in .iso files this is an exe installer from gog, do you know they have them in packages to install the game to your pc when you buy them?

You can get GoG EXE installers from torrent sites.
Actually, I just looked for rollercoster tycoon 3 and it is in there ready to download.

But what I mean now, without the right to download it legally, what makes your installer different from one downloaded from torrents?
Digitally it will be a 1:1 copy, so there is no digital difference... and rights, well, your download rights for the game expired suddenly.

And from my point of view, morally if you lose the file and download it from torrent again, it will be OK from my point of view, of course. You already bought it once after all.

But legally, I think both the copy you have now in your HDD, as well as the one you might download from torrent if you lose it... both of them are illegal already.

 

[Deleted-394630]

on Steam? on GoG?
Can you still download it?

No, I am not seeding this ISO, don't ask.

 

[Noctosphere]

No, I am not seeding this ISO, don't ask.

can you make a torrent and seedbox it?

 

[Deleted-394630]

can you make a torrent and seedbox it?

no

 

[jDSX]

You can get GoG EXE installers from torrent sites.
Actually, I just looked for rollercoster tycoon 3 and it is in there ready to download.

But what I mean now, without the right to download it legally, what makes your installer different from one downloaded from torrents?
Digitally it will be a 1:1 copy, so there is no digital difference... and rights, well, your download rights for the game expired suddenly.

And from my point of view, morally if you lose the file and download it from torrent again, it will be OK from my point of view, of course. You already bought it once after all.

But legally, I think both the copy you have now in your HDD, as well as the one you might download from torrent if you lose it... both of them are illegal already.

One is virus free than the other other than that though....

 

[sarkwalvein]

One is virus free than the other other than that though....

Yeah, probably both are virus free. But that's not what I meant.
Digital rights are bullshit. That's not news.
Your friend could copy that from you PC, and his installer would then be as legit and legal as yours. (legit yes, legal probably not)
It really feels like you were scammed.

 

[Noctosphere]

Yeah, probably both are virus free. But that's not what I meant.
Digital rights are bullshit. That's not news.
Your friend could copy that from you PC, and his installer would then be as legit and legal as yours. (legit yes, legal probably not)
It really feels like you were scammed.

I think serial key for offline games are bullshit
I mean, you can easily get one online to install the game and since it has no online function, well... you see?

 

[JellyPerson]

Time go back to my home, that one Piracy Beach place

 

[sarkwalvein]

I think serial key for offline games are bullshit
I mean, you can easily get one online to install the game and since it has no online function, well... you see?

We both agree.

 

[AngryCinnabon]

Interesting, I've had that game for ages so it's a shock to see it gone.

 

[|<roni&g]

This is why many forms of "piracy" aren't a bad thing. Hopefully anyone who wants to play it can download it on a torrent or something like that

 

[Deleted User]

I am so intrigued by this. Never in a million years would I have thought Atari was coming back. Now they're making some strange business decisions. It's like a TV show.

Host: Welcome back to, What Will Atari Do Next? Currently, Atari is pulling Rollercoaster Tycoon 3! Strange move, but who knows what will happen next? What's your thoughts on this, Valve?
Valve: I don't care. We're still making money.
Host: Well that's all the time we got for the show tonight. Find out what weird move Atari will pull next, on What Will Atari Do Next?

 

[johnbus]

If you have the installer, but not the digital right to claim it and/or download it again... how is it different than any installer downloaded from your average torrent?

GOG's policy on games getting pulled is that if you buy them, you own them forever. In fact, if you buy them, and they get replaced as an alternate version (like Fallout), you still own the version you purchased (which became Fallout Classic) even if you don't own the new version. It's a big part of their DRM-free Revolution, and is a staple of the site. It would be difficult for a publisher to argue that they weren't aware of what they were getting themselves into in court at this point.

Steam is a different story...

 

[nolimits59]

Steam is a different story...

euh, no ? You can always download the game even if it got pulled out of steam.
I have Duke Nukem 3D megaton edition, it got pulled out but i still can download it...

I also remember that RCT 3 Platinium on steam is a DRM-free version , still can download it also btw

 

[jDSX]

euh, no ? You can always download the game even if it got pulled out of steam.
I have Duke Nukem 3D megaton edition, it got pulled out but i still can download it...

I also remember that RCT 3 Platinium on steam is a DRM-free version , still can download it also btw

Still need steam to play and install it

 

[nolimits59]

Still need steam to play and install it

You also need a internet browser to download on GOG.
It's just being quibble at this point...
complain that you need Steam to at least download the game when you buy your game on steam... go figure. Even when games are totally DRM-free on steam there is still people complaining.

 

[medoli900]

You also need a internet browser to download on GOG.
It's just being quibble at this point...
complain that you need Steam to at least download the game when you buy your game on steam... go figure. Even when games are totally DRM-free on steam there is still people complaining.

You still need steam to play it. With GOG, you don't have any forced middle ground software.

 

[Bladexdsl]

Good thing I have my boxed original disc. Such an amazing game.

good luck installing that properly on w10

 

[Taleweaver]

It's an unfortunate move, but an understandable one. I hope atari and frontier can work something out.

What I don't understand, however, is that this situation is used as an argument to somehow justifies piracy. That's...just sad. You guys don't really expect anyone to believe that you saved up money for FOURTEEN YEARS to buy this game now? You had your chance to buy it. You had your chance on sales, discounts, bundles and what have you. Besides...RCT is also one of these typical games that still gets sold in regular toy stores. Stop by, and you just might get the entire original trilogy and expansions for about 10 bucks (on discs, no less).

If you have the installer, but not the digital right to claim it and/or download it again... how is it different than any installer downloaded from your average torrent?

GoG pulled the game from the store. That doesn't mean that previous purchases somehow become invalid. I don't have the game on there myself (only RCT2), but it wouldn't surprise me if they do the same as steam: once you've bought it, you can download it anytime, even if it gets removed from the store.

 

[AdamFX990]

I've still got mine in a freakishly slim DVD case. Its typical this happens long after DVDs became obsolete. Or, at least, I thought they were obsolete