Alice: Madness Returns has been quietly removed from Steam again

Alice: Madness Returns has again disappeared from Steam.

Alice’s disappearance will be particularly disappointing to some, as the 2011 game only returned to Steam in February 2022 after a DRM issue had it removed from sale for nearly five years. Now, only a few months later, it’s gone again.

What is the reason for her sudden and unexpected disappearance? It is not entirely clear. Steam doesn’t give up too much; The Alice: Madness Returns page on Steam simply says “At the request of the publisher, Alice: Madness Returns is no longer available for sale on Steam,” a comprehensive statement that covers pretty much anything and everything.

However, American creator McGee himself speculates that it may have something to do with another game made by former Spicy Horse studio, Akaneiro: the “broken” Demon Hunters. But while the Spicy Horse dedicated to Akaneiro has been removed from sale until the issue is fixed, her other titles — including Alice: Madness Returns — have not.

“From what I heard, while I was trying to remove Akaneiro from Steam (it was broken), all other Spicy Horse games were also removed,” McGee tweeted over the weekend. “We’re reaching out to support and trying to fix this issue. Can anyone at @valvesoftware help fix this faster?”

At the time of writing, Alice remains at the Museum of Islamic Art. As always, we’ll let you know if and when this changes.

McGee was the Creative Director of the 2000 title published by EA American Alice McGee. It gained cult status and was followed by Alice: Madness Returns in 2011. Fans wondered – and I constantly question McGee – About Alice’s third game since then, but the good news is Alice: Official asylum is on the way.

The third installment of McGee’s fantastically grim tragedy was put on Alice in Wonderland in consultation with new Mysterious studio and 3000+ Patreon backers. A complete PDF of the game’s narrative diagram is publicly availablewhich gives you Patreon support and you don’t mind spoilers, of course.