The Oculus Store: A Tale of Digital Permanence, or Lack Thereof

Jamie discusses the danger and fragility of digital storefronts

- Jamie Davies

Earlier this month, MARVEL Powers UnitedVR became “dead space”, in the words of anofficial Oculus email reported by Reddit user Reformation1517. No, it didn’t become a sci-fi survival horror from EA; rather, it became a dead game, the digital equivalent of a paperweight. The Oculus exclusive, released in 2018, caused a stir late last year as one of three Sanzaru-developed games to be removed from the Oculus Store, although existing owners were still able to play it. Several months later, on the 1st March 2021, it ceased to be playable in any capacity. While it’s hard to imagine that many players will miss this particular Marvel tie-in, its seemingly needless shutdown sets a worrying precedent indeed, both for digital rights and videogame preservation in the decades ahead.

The other two Sanzaru titles to be ejected from the Oculus Store, Ripcoil and VR Sports Challenge, caused less upset. After all, the former was a strictly multiplayer affair—and thus had an inherently limited lifespan—while the latter remains playable to this day. As for the Marvel title, though, people were baffled as to why a game with single-player components needed to be permanently locked down. Some speculated that it came down to an expired license; others suggested that the single-player mode could be linked to online servers in a non-severable way. Whatever the reason behind it, the fact remains that there is now a game with single-player functionality, a game which people paid money for, which is entirely unplayable: dead space.