Square Enix delists original Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age as S version comes out
Slimy.
Square Enix has delisted Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age from various digital storefronts to coincide with the launch of the new S version.
A notice on the Steam page for Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Digital Edition of Light reveals the game was unlisted on Valve's platform "at the request of the publisher" - and will not appear in search.
The notice says Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age, which came out September 2018, is no longer available, and points to the new Dragon Quest 11 S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition, which came out 3rd December 2020.
A cursory glance at the PlayStation Store and the Microsoft Store show Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age has been delisted there, too. Even Humble notes the game is unavailable.
Some fans have reacted negatively to the move. This Definitive Edition of the JRPG launched on Nintendo Switch in September 2019, and S is a port of the Switch version for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. While S does include some improvements over the original and extra content, it has some graphical differences, some of which are considered a downgrade.
No-one begrudges the existence of the S version, of course, but existing owners of Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age feel burned that they're having to fork out full price for the new version of the game in order to get access to the new content.
Over on Steam, scores of negative reviews have hit the page for the original Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age, most focusing on the lack of an upgrade, the cost of the new S version and the delisting.
Of course, if you had already bought Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age, you can still download it, and you can still buy a physical copy of Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age if you want to play it.