Alice: Madness Returns has been pulled from Steam again

News
By published

It looks as though all games developed by Spicy Horse have been removed

Alice - sprayed with blood - clasps a blood-stained knife as she stares into the camera
(Image credit: EA)

Alice: Madness Returns has been removed from Steam just months after fans fought to get the creepy horror back onto Valve's PC platform.

The sequel was removed from sale back in 2016 following a DRM problem, an issue that kept the game off Steam for a full five years. It was finally reinstated in February 2022, only for fans to notice that, once again, it had been mysteriously pulled again earlier this month.

The game's Steam page says "at the request of the publisher, Alice: Madness Returns is no longer available for sale on Steam", but that's a standard disclaimer that doesn't really tell us very much. 

American McGee – the creator of two fantastically chilling Alice games – believes the problem may have occurred because another of his former studio's games, Akaneiro: Demon Hunters, is "broken" was needed to be taken offline. He posits that other games by Spicy Horse were mistakenly removed, too, and is reaching out to Valve to resolve the problem.

"From what I've heard, in trying to remove Akaneiro from @Steam (it was broken), all the other Spicy Horse games also got removed," McGee suggested. "We're reaching out to Support and trying to get this resolved. Anyone at @valvesoftware can help fix this faster?"

Alice: Madness Returns is the sequel to American McGee's Alice, a dark and twisted take on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Though lauded for its stunning visuals, Madness Returns didn't sell enough to compel EA into making a third installment, which means it's a full decade later and we still can't play part three yet, even though we reckon Madness Returns is one of the most overlooked games of the PS3 / Xbox 360 generation

Did you know that the cult classic horror game Alice is getting an unexpected TV adaptation? In a statement, X-Men writer - and English voice actor for Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid, of course - David Hayter said: "I am beyond excited to bring this world of madness and wonder to a global audience."

As for the next Alice game? Well, it's taken a decade, but a third Alice adventure is indeed on the way, and the full story outline to a follow-up American McGee Alice game has already been revealed online. McGee shared the document as part of his efforts to "crowd design" the highly-anticipated third installment of his fan-favorite horror series with the 3,000+ fans who support his Patreon.

Here are our picks of the very best horror games.

Vikki Blake
Vikki Blake
Weekend Reporter, GamesRadar+

Vikki Blake is GamesRadar+'s Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with 'S', and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter.