Spec Ops, Tie Xi Qu, and the Unnecessary Problem of Lost Media

The digital age should have made lost media obsolete. Instead, the rate at which we're losing access to our culture may be accelerating.

On January 29, 2024, video game publisher 2K began removing Spec Ops: The Line from digital storefronts like Steam. 

A groundbreaking work, Spec Ops is heralded not so much for its gameplay, but rather for its story. The game transposes the narrative of Joseph Conrad’s classic novel Heart of Darkness into video game form — in other words, Spec Ops was a playable version of Apocalypse Now, with the brutality appropriately scaled up for the 21st century.

The outcry to the game’s removal was immediate, as even the game’s designer and director Cory Davis was unaware that his game would be de-listed, writing that he was dismayed because he believes the themes of Spec Ops are more relevant now than ever. I’m inclined to agree, as the experience I had playing through the game is unparalleled by anything in my video game history. As your protagonist grapples with the morality of his mission, Spec Ops repeatedly breaks the fourth wall, forcing you as the protagonist’s master to reckon with the m…