Indie developer says Warner Bros is "retiring" his game from official platforms, so he's giving it away for free instead

A screenshot of a mountain landscape filled with trees in Small Radios Big Televisions.
(Image credit: Adult Swim Games)

Owen Deery, an indie developer behind the puzzle game Small Radios Big Televisions, has stated that Warner Bros. will soon be "retiring" the game from digital storefronts. In response, Deery is giving away the PC version for free to everyone. 

Small Radios Big Televisions released back in 2016 on Steam and PS4, published by the Warner Bros. subsidiary Adult Swim Games. The puzzler has you collect cassette tapes found in abandoned factories and explore the virtual worlds within them. However, Deery says it will soon be unable to buy, and that it will be removed from storefronts "within the next few weeks."

According to Deery, the reason Warner Bros. gave for Small Radios Big Television's upcoming removal from the stores was "business changes" – no further details on this were shared by the indie developer. When asked if any other Adult Swim Games titles are being shut down, he simply replied: "No idea."

At the time of writing, Small Radios Big Televisions is still available to purchase directly from Steam and the PlayStation Store, but Deery is already offering the PC version for free via his website. He previously expressed on Twitter that he's unable to alter the prices on digital storefronts as the "publisher controls the sale price," so it's out of his control to offer it at a discount on PlayStation. "You can still purchase the game on PS4 until it disappears. There's no way to distribute PS4 games independently though so it's now or never," he added.

It's also worth noting that Deery isn't certain whether those who buy the game will be able to keep it indefinitely. "Hopefully those who purchased it will still have access but I can't say for sure," he tweeted. 

Looking for more indie games to populate your game library? Be sure to check out our list of upcoming indie games for plenty more to look forward to.

Catherine Lewis
News Writer

I'm one of 12DOVE's news writers, who works alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.