Sega and Monolith’s classic survival horror game Condemned: Criminal Origins has been delisted from digital storefronts, and no reason has been given by the publisher as to why this has happened.
As spotted by Wario64 over on Bluesky, Condemned was taken down from Steam and the Xbox storefront on Halloween. In case you’re wondering, it’s not available via GOG either, having not been added to that platform’s excellent Preservation Program yet.
Sega hasn’t given any kind of official statement regarding the reason for the game’s delisting, and since Monolith was shuttered by parent company Warner Bros back in February this year, the developer isn’t available to comment on the situation either.
Released back in 2005, Condemned: Criminal Origins is a first-person survival horror game in which you play as Ethan Thomas, an FBI agent who’s looking into a spate of serial killings, as well as the homeless population of his city suddenly becoming aggressive and violent.
The game features a mix of tense action-horror combat and exploration, detective mechanics, and mild survival elements. It’s a real classic, although I suppose we now have to describe it as a «lost» classic, since it’s not available for purchase anymore.
It’s possible, of course, that Sega is gearing up to announce a remaster of the game, perhaps alongside remaster and remake connoisseurs Nightdive. That could just be wishful thinking on my part, though; it’s equally possible that the game has disappeared for some arcane rights-related reason.
Condemned: Criminal Origins was followed up by a sequel, Condemned 2: Bloodshot, which, unlike its predecessor, was ported to the PlayStation 3 as well as releasing for the Xbox 360. This one, however, never appeared on PC.
Luckily, developers like Dusk‘s David Szymanski are here to carry the torch, with titles like January’s Butcher’s Creek attempting to pay homage to Condemned through similar tense first-person survival horror gameplay.
For the time being, sadly, it looks like you’ll have to fall back on your physical copy of Condemned: Criminal Origins on Xbox 360 if you want to play it. Hopefully, a remaster or remake is announced soon.
