7 years after being delisted for a second time, the 2013 Deadpool game just got a mysterious update on Steam alongside 6 other delisted Activision games

The 2013 Deadpool game may have been delisted long ago, but a mysterious change on Steam has suggested that something could be brewing behind the scenes for it, and several other Activision games are no longer available to purchase.

With a Metacritic score of 62, Deadpool might not be the most successful game based on a Marvel character, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its fans. Despite rumors that the game somehow cost $100 million to make and market (the former manager of licensed games for Marvel said this year that "it obviously didn't"), it was removed from digital storefronts just a year after its launch before being re-released in 2015, and then delisted again in 2017. But could it be set to return for a third time?

Well, maybe? As spotted by Twitter user @Knoebel, Deadpool is seemingly one of seven delisted games that have received a new Steam update according to third-party database SteamDB. On November 14, Deadpool – as well as Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 1 and 2, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, War for Cybertron, and Devastation – were all updated, with the changelist for all seven stating: "added store_screenshot." 

This is strange on multiple levels – many of the Steam store pages for these games, including Deadpool, are no longer visible, so there's no way for fans to actually look at what the screenshots are. What's more, even though we can't see the images themselves, the file names are different for every single game, implying that each game was given a different picture. That does seem like a lot of effort to go to for games that can no longer be bought.

But does the update mean anything at all for Deadpool? Well, not necessarily – scanning through the game's update history on SteamDB, this is far from the only change that's been made since it was delisted, with another alteration made four months ago, as well as a couple more the year prior when its Metacritic score was seemingly removed and then re-added. However, the timing of this happening alongside the other delisted games is very intriguing – we'll just have to watch this space. Here's hoping we'll still be able to keep an eye on the SteamDB pages without "private branches" stopping us in our tracks.

While you're here, be sure to check out our roundup of upcoming Marvel games.