2005 survival horror shooter ups and vanishes from Steam suspiciously soon after entering Nightdive's orbit

Guy sets zombie on fire with flamethrower. — (Image credit: Atari)

Bad news for the presumable legions of you that were just about to pick up 2005 survival horror shooter Cold Fear on Steam. You can't. It's gone. Vanished. Disappeared and absconded without so much as a how'd-you-do.

As of November 11 (per SteamDB), Cold Fear has been yoinked from Steam. The timing here is notable: back in August, the game slipped out of Ubisoft's hands and into Atari's, along with four other titles—I Am Alive, Child of Eden, Grow Home, and Grow Up. "We're excited to reintroduce these titles while also exploring ways to expand and evolve these franchises," Atari head honcho Wade Rosen said at the time.

It'd be an odd choice. Or, well, I think so anyway. Cold Fear's Very Positive reviews on Steam will inform you that the game has its dedicated shooters even today, but the game's critical reception at launch was pretty lukewarm—a strange addition to Nightdive's line-up of polished classics.

A member of the Coast Guard points a handgun at a zombie on the deck of a boat — (Image credit: Darkworks)

Anyway, the Nightdive link is pure speculation on my part. It could simply be the case that some bit of licensing happened to expire and forced Cold Fear (temporarily, one must hope) off sale. But the timing of it and the Atari acquisition is very conspicuous to your humble writer. If Atari isn't doing something with Cold Fear, let this be the sign from on high that it probably should.

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.

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