Squanch Games’ 2019 comedy adventure appears to have been removed from major digital storefronts without advance warning, leaving late buyers with few clear options.
Image: IGDB
Store links: Trover Saves the Universe on Steam
Trover’s Storefront Exit Has Arrived Without a Clear Script
Trover Saves the Universe, the 2019 comedy action-adventure from Squanch Games, appears to have been removed from sale across major digital storefronts, including Nintendo Switch, Steam, Epic Games Store, Meta, Xbox, and PlayStation. Video Games Chronicle reported that the game is no longer available to buy on those platforms, after the disappearance was spotted and shared on ResetEra by Lewie Procter.
The strongest signal so far comes from Steam. According to VGC, SteamDB shows the “app_retired_publisher_request” flag was activated on Monday. That flag is used when a publisher or developer tells Steam that an app has been retired and should no longer be sold. That does not explain the reason, but it does move the PC side of the story beyond a simple store glitch.
Squanch Games has not issued an official explanation in the source material provided. Nintendo Everything also reported that there has been no official statement from the developer, while noting that Trover Saves the Universe is mostly gone from the studio’s website even though it still remains in the site navigation bar. For now, the story is a confirmed availability problem with an unconfirmed cause.
Where Players Are Seeing Trover Saves the Universe Delisted
The apparent Trover Saves the Universe delisting is not limited to a single platform ecosystem. VGC lists Steam, Epic Games, Meta, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo digital stores as places where the game is no longer available to purchase. Nintendo Everything specifically points to the Nintendo eShop as part of the removal, making the Switch version one of the more visible losses for late buyers.
That matters because Trover had a scattered platform life. VGC reports that the game first launched on PS4 and PlayStation VR in May 2019, then came to PC, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One later that year, followed by Oculus Quest in 2020. A cross-platform delisting cuts across nearly the whole map of where the game found its audience.
PlayStation LifeStyle also reported that the PS Store version has been removed, and described the removal as sudden and without warning. Its report says fans were upset by the PS4 action game’s disappearance, although neither Squanch Games nor the storefront holders cited in the source material have provided a public reason.
Digital Owners Appear Safe, But New Buyers Are the Ones Caught Out
For players who already bought Trover Saves the Universe digitally, the available guidance is less alarming than the storefront disappearance first suggests. Nintendo Everything reports that previously purchased digital copies can still be played, will remain in players’ libraries, and can still be redownloaded later if needed.
That is the practical dividing line. Existing owners should check their library rather than the public store page. Late buyers, meanwhile, may find there is no clean digital route left unless the game returns. Nintendo Everything writes that, unless the game comes back later, there will not really be a proper way to own a copy now.
Physical copies may be the remaining path, but that route is uneven. Nintendo Everything notes that Trover Saves the Universe received a physical release through Limited Run Games, though that release was limited. PlayStation LifeStyle says physical PS4 copies are available on sites like Amazon. Neither report establishes current pricing or stock stability, so buyers looking for a disc or cartridge should treat availability and resale prices as moving targets rather than normal retail conditions.
The Missing Explanation Is the Story’s Loudest Beat
No source provided a confirmed reason for the Squanch Games delisting. Nintendo Everything notes that delistings often happen because of expiring rights, but it also says it is unclear what happened here. That distinction matters: expiring rights are a common industry pattern, not an established explanation for Trover Saves the Universe.
VGC reports that Squanch Games did not appear to warn players that Trover was set to be delisted, and had not provided a reason through official channels at the time of its report. In delisting stories, silence changes the player response. A dated warning gives buyers a final window. A quiet removal leaves people reconstructing events through store pages, database flags, and forum posts.
There is also a sensitive context around the game’s former studio co-founder. VGC identifies Squanch Games as the High On Life studio and notes that Justin Roiland, who co-founded the company and recorded more than 20 hours of voice acting for Trover Saves the Universe, resigned from Squanch Games in January 2023 after news emerged that he was facing domestic violence charges. VGC also reports that those charges were later dismissed due to insufficient evidence, and that new allegations of sexual assault were reported against him in September 2023. Crucially, VGC states there is no indication that Roiland’s presence in the game is the reason for the delisting. Without an official statement, that remains context, not causation.
A Comedy Adventure Built Around Voice, Timing, and Oddball Control
Trover Saves the Universe was always a strange object in the action-adventure space, partly because its rhythm comes from dialogue as much as movement. VGC describes it as a comedy adventure in which the player issues commands to Trover, a purple monster, while guiding him through stages to rescue kidnapped dogs from Glorkon, an evil alien using the dogs’ essence to gain power and end the universe.
PlayStation LifeStyle’s quoted official description frames the setup in even more grotesque terms: the player’s dogs have been “dognapped” by a beaked lunatic who has stuffed them into his eye holes and is using their life essence to destroy the universe. The same description points to combat, platforming, puzzles, and morally questionable choices.
That design made Trover an unusual fit across both flat-screen and VR play. PlayStation LifeStyle notes that the PS4 version included a VR mode for PSVR, while VGC’s platform history includes the original PlayStation VR launch and a later Oculus Quest release. The game’s set-piece identity was tied to perspective, voice performance, and the stop-start pacing of listening, commanding, and moving through absurd scenarios. A delisting therefore removes a specific kind of Squanch catalog piece, not simply an interchangeable platformer from a release calendar.
How Late Buyers Should Approach Trover Now
If you already own Trover Saves the Universe digitally, the best immediate move is to verify that it appears in your library on the platform where you bought it. Nintendo Everything reports that prior owners can continue playing and redownloading the game. The reporting does not indicate that access for existing owners has been revoked.
If you do not own it, the situation is far tighter. The Nintendo Switch version appears to be gone from the eShop, according to Nintendo Everything, while VGC reports broader removal across Steam, Epic, Meta, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo storefronts. That leaves physical copies as the only clearly reported fallback, and even there the picture depends on platform, stock, and secondary-market pricing.
The safest reading is that Trover Saves the Universe is currently unavailable to new digital buyers unless Squanch Games or the storefronts reverse course. The unresolved questions are the ones players most need answered: whether the removal is permanent, whether rights or publishing requests drove it, whether any final-sale window was skipped, and whether the High On Life studio plans to restore the game. Until Squanch Games comments, the confirmed story is narrower but still significant: Trover has effectively slipped out of the digital aisle, and late buyers may have missed their cleanest chance to add it to their libraries.