Update: - SEGA has sent over an official response about Alpha Protocol being delisted from Steam, along with other digital stores. SEGA says that this is due to an “expiry” of “publishing rights”.
“Following the expiry of SEGA’s publishing rights for Alpha Protocol, the title has been removed from Steam and is no longer on sale.” said the SEGA spokesperson.
There’s no word on when, or if, this will ever return.
Original Report: - In an unexpected move, Obsidian’s 2010 spy RPG Alpha Protocol has been removed from sale on Steam at the request of publisher Sega.
Not only that, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find Alpha Protocol available for purchase on any of the major stores, regardless of platform.
Alpha Protocol Removed From Sale
Alpha Protocol put players in the role of agent Michael Thorton, who, cast out by his government, is the sole person able to stop an international catastrophe. In typical Obsidian fashion, players could go about completing objectives in a number of different ways while tapping into one of three spy archetypes from famous shows.
Despite launching with a number of issues, Alpha Protocol managed to gain a cult following, similar to that of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. At a first glance, Alpha Protocol being removed from sale seems rather odd. The title hasn’t come to mainstream attention in a while and a sequel was never part of publisher Sega’s plans. While Obsidian being bought by Microsoft could have influenced the move in some way, it’s difficult to fathom how as the Alpha Protocol IP belongs to Sega.
If you already own the game on Steam, you should have no problem installing and playing it. As of yet, no reason was given for Alpha Protocol’s removal from sale. We reached out to publisher Sega regarding the matter and will update this article provided we receive a response.
