Back in 2019, publisher and developer Asmodee released a digital version of their board game Pandemic on Switch and other platforms.

Earlier this month, the the game was suddenly delisted on Steam as well as on mobile devices without any prior announcement. According to an email sent by Asmodee support, the game is being withdrawn from all platforms for “a multitude of reasons” which the company cannot disclose:

First of all, we want to thank you and all the Pandemic players for your loyalty and support over time. Unfortunately, we are taking the Pandemic app off the stores. We have worked hard over 4 years on Pandemic and withdrawing it from the stores has not been an easy choice. This decision was made with a heavy heart for a multitude of reasons that we cannot disclose.

Following its removal from the PC and mobile stores, the game will be removed from Xbox store at the end of January, and from the Switch eshop by the end of July 2022. However, all players who previously purchased the game will still be able to play and reinstall it, provided they follow the necessary steps.

For now, only PC, App Store & Google Play has been removed. Microsoft version will follow Jan 31th 2022 and then Nintendo Switch by the end of July 2022.

Regarding the game, as long as it has been purchased and downloaded prior to removal from the store, then you will continue to have access to the game. If you do uninstall the game, you will need to access your library to locate and install the game again.

At the time of this writing, Asmodee has not revealed any further details about why the game is being pulled, although many speculate it has something to do with negative press resulting from the title “Pandemic”. If this is indeed the case, it is possible that the game may eventually return after a little rebranding, although this remains to be seen.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.