All traces of the 'When They Cry' series gone from PSN?

[Vokoca]

So this isn't probably even news, but I've just noticed it now and don't remember seeing it discussed before.

It was brought to my attention minutes earlier that Higurashi Sui, the collection of the 19 arcs spread across the PC, PS2 and DS releases of previous Higurashi titles, is going for a strangely high price on play-asia - that is, the VN now costs 100$. That in itself wouldn't be so strange, play-asia was never famous for being the cheapest import shop out there. I didn't remember the exact price at launch - I think it was something between 7 to 8 thousand yen, the regular game price - so I went to check the Playstation Store, which is where I've gotten my copy... but this is where things started to get weird.

Looking for Higurashi gave no results. Assuming the search system was just being trash, I clicked my way to the game through my download list - only to be greeted by an empty page. Even the entries in the download list are missing proper icons. I even tried looking for the Umineko releases, which used to be listed on PSN as well - but just like Higurashi, they are also gone, without a trace.

I have no idea what is going on. I can only assume that this has something to do with both Kaga Create and Alchemist going under some time back - but would that really make them flat out remove all their products? One thing is for certain - if you still want to get the console releases of the 'When They Cry' series,, you might want to do so as soon as possible.... before the price grows even more.

 

TL;DR - Higurashi and Umineko deleted from PSN, meaning it is no longer possible to get a hold of a digital copy. Physical copies limited and going up in price.

[Asonn]

 

[Hanako]

嘘だ！

I would probably react strongly to this if I had a PSN account, or a PS Vita for that matter, but since I don't 

[Vokoca]

5 hours ago, Asonn said:

 

Well hey, my mistake for thinking people here cared about VNs, I guess. If there was ever any chance of these releases ever making it to the west - or even MG just acquiring the rights to the Alchemist/Kaga assets - there sure as hell is none now.

[Decay]

Hey, look on the bright side, if the rights to these arcs shifted hands, maybe they'll be easier to license for localization? Yeah, I'm not betting on it.

6 hours ago, Asonn said:

 

Yo, Asonn, don't be a fucking dick.

[Silvz]

weird is that usually games remain available to those who purchased it. This is bad indeed, as it is one less way to acquire the game legally.

[solidbatman]

The dangers of buying digitally on full display here :/ Thank goodness we're at least getting something from both series in the West 

[FrozenRaven]

Aww man i was actually thinking of getting the ps3 version of this at some point in the future, thanks for the heads up. I might have a look around and see if i can get it anywhere for a reasonable price. 

[Suzu Fanatic]

Looks like I'll have to make backups of my backups :/ Really does shake up my faith in digital media when stuff like this happens. Could you imagine if Steam ever went under and the servers shut down? That would be a pretty salty day for many consumers~