Aliens: Colonial Marines Reappears on Steam [Update]

Update: Sega declined to comment on this article on the day of its publication. However, now nearly a week later, both games have reappeared on Steam.

Original report: Aliens: Colonial Marines, the first-person shooter that was panned by critics and triggered a class action lawsuit over allegedly false advertising, has been delisted from Steam.

Although Steam customers can still play the Gearbox-developed FPS if they already own it, the title is no longer available to buy on the Steam store. Also missing is the Rebellion-developed Aliens vs. Predator, also a first-person shooter that did not win over critics when it shipped in 2010.

The removal of both games could be due to the expiration date of various licence agreements between Sega and rights holder 20th Century Fox. Alien: Isolation, the latest title in the series, is still available to buy on Steam.

Upon its release in February 2013, Aliens: Colonial Marines was panned by GameSpot reviewer Kevin VanOrd as a "shallow bit of science-fiction fluff with cheap production values and an indifferent attitude".

Disappointment among fans led to a class action lawsuit which claims the game was falsely advertised at trade shows.

Legal representatives for developer Gearbox claimed the studio had no responsibility in the matters raised by the suit, and in July requested that the developer should be dropped from the lawsuit.

Then in September, publisher Sega fired back at Gearbox, claiming that the studio took liberties when discussing an in-development version of Aliens: Colonial Marines.

The case continues.