Bill & Ted’s Excellent Retro Collection is set to be removed from the PlayStation Network on January 1, 2024—despite the title having only been released for less than a year.
Limited Run Games released Bill & Ted’s Excellent Retro Collection as a digital download for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 users on February 17, 2023. The package contains the NES and Game Boy titles in the franchise: Bill & Ted’s Excellent Video Game Adventure and Bill & Ted’s Excellent Gameboy Adventure A Bogus Journey, respectively.
As with any other retro games re-released by Limited Run Games, the two-in-one bundle was aimed at catering to retro gamers, including nostalgic players who may have had fond memories of the series from way back. The company is especially known for making games from bygone eras playable on modern platforms, such as the PS4 and PS5.
Limited Licensing Deal
However, it seems even LRG’s preservation efforts come with an expiration, with Bill & Ted’s Excellent Retro Collection slated to be removed from Sony’s digital storefront as early as next year. Spreading the information is Limited Run Games’ CEO himself, Josh Fairhurst, who had to keep the public informed via a post on X/Twitter.
Per the tweet, “Bill & Ted” will be subject to removal on January 1 “on all platforms”. This would suggest that the title will no longer be able to be purchased digitally beginning from the aforementioned date. However, the tweet also claims that those who already pre-owned the game will still be able to re-download it.
Subsequent responses from the CEO provide information as to the reason behind the sudden removal of the title, which boils down to limited licensing. Per Fairhurst, his company has only managed to secure a two-year license for the IP, which is only compounded by the reality that the development of the port took longer than anticipated.
That may come off as a piece of bad news to start 2024. However, it is also worth noting that the title will remain accessible physically, while stocks last, with Bill & Ted’s Excellent Retro Collection remaining available on Limited Run Games’ website.
