They're patching it to be playable offline, but only if you've previously downloaded the game.
Why not just leave that version up instead of delisting it? They could even sell it. Would be seen as a success story for preservation instead of another loss, and it's especially baffling because it's a fully avoidable loss.
Obviously it depends on what games you want to play.
The one point I will mention in the Switch's favor is that I feel like it's a much better handheld. It's a lot lighter and I like the feel of the JoyCons better (or I did until mine went bad, we'll see how durable S2 JoyCons are). Still, both are ultimately too bulky for me to take on the go, instead I bought a Miyoo Mini Plus on sale and that's become my portable while the Deck gathers dust and the Switch no longer leaves the dock.
Them's Fightin' Herds went through a very tragic downfall. Publisher fired the entire development team at the end of 2023, before the final DLC character was even finished, and then released her in a completely broken state. Much later they would eventually put out a hotfix patch with several pages of nerfs, and this character is still banned competitively. They did promise further fixes, but they promised that a long time ago and it's been radio silence since. All other promised content updates, including Story Mode, are canceled.
Despite all that, the community's still here. I'm about to leave for Combo Breaker 2025 this weekend, where TFH will be one of the brackets I'm entering. Only a side event, bracket's small, but as long as there are brackets I will show up to them.
Skullgirls is somehow still here, 13 years after release. It's had a long history of perpetual development troubles, and yet has always been kicking. Earlier this year it came out that the developers are suing the publisher over $1.2 million they haven't been paid, so it looks like this actually is the end of development for real now. Fortunately the final patch is in a very good state, they went out on a high note and I'm happy with the finished product.
But again, the community? Still here. Also at Combo Breaker 2025, as a main stage headliner. Skullgirls will never die.
Puyo Puyo Champions is the most functional version of the game, in fact it's the only version on modern platforms that is faithfully accurate to original Tsu rules. Sega let it fall by the wayside in order to sell buggy rehashed crossovers and mobile subscription service exclusives, but PPC is the version you should be playing, don't buy the shovelware that is skinwalking the IP now. Unfortunately, Sega's mismanagement has split the playerbase because of all the shovelware they're pushing, and the west in particular is a hopeless mess because of it. For best results, queue when Japan is awake. But you can still play this version, and you should!
A game can be fun in spite of balance. MvC2 is a beloved game even with its six character meta. But when there's room for improvement, and the internet now makes improvement possible, devs should take the opportunity to improve as much as they can.
Also, speaking of Tekken 5 - are you talking about the initial arcade release, the rebalanced console port, the "5.1" arcade rerelease, or Dark Resurrection? Because those totally count as patches.
Normally games shouldn't allow players on different versions to connect to each other. Version checks may be something devs need to explicitly implement, but surely most games should already have them or else I have questions for the developers.
Also, in the context of fighting games specifically, this is largely a nonissue. Fighting game netcode works by sending button inputs only, and the other client will play back those inputs to independently verify the outcome. There's very little cheaters can try to do that won't just result in a desync. To my knowledge there's only ever been one cheating scandal in the FGC, and the accused turned out to be innocent in the end.
It's not like I'm saying I hate classic fighters, or that there aren't any I still enjoy today. I've got plenty of hours on FightCade just dicking around in various random kusoge. I'm traveling to Combo Breaker in two weeks, and I signed up for six different brackets, two of which are retro titles (Waku Waku 7 and Twinkle Star Sprites) (you could also count Mystery Bracket, but the point of Mystery is to play trash that doesn't hold up).
But the games that have stood the test of time are few and far between. They're the exception, not the rule. If you think your game is too good for patches because it worked for Vampire Savior, you're a lot more likely to end up like SVC Chaos.
From a developer's perspective, they have to adapt to a changing market. All your competitors are iterating and improving their games, you need to keep up.
And hell, some of the most popular classics are patches in a sense. People play Super Turbo and Third Strike, but no one's playing World Warrior or New Generation. At least now players don't have to buy those kinds of 'patches' for full price.
Don't know about other platforms, but it's worth noting that Steam already does keep old versions and there's some command line method that can force download an older depot. Valve could offer UI to officially support this.
Edition Select like in USF4 would be rad. But I think I'd just like to see a universal way for platforms to let you roll back to any version of any game. Wouldn't even require any extra work on developers' part, platform holders would just maintain an archive of patches.