Cars 3: Driven to Win, a 2017 game developed by Avalanche Software and published by Warner Bros., has been taken offline from the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation Store, and Microsoft Store. As of this writing, physical purchases of the Warner Bros. game ought to still work on consoles and is likely the cheapest, and currently only, real way to play it.
For those unfamiliar, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced it would oversee the development and publishing of Cars 3: Driven to Win in early 2017, thanks to an agreement with Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media. It was developed by Avalanche Software, which, at the time, Warner Bros. had established again after Disney shut it down in 2016 (alongside the Disney Infinity line of gaming content). The deal also gave Warner Bros. rights to Avalanche’s Octane development engine, which was used in the development of Cars 3.
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Cars 3: Driven to Win Has Been Delisted
As of this writing, there has been no official statement from either Avalanche Software or Warner Bros. regarding the delisting of Cars 3, meaning there is no official explanation as to why it happened. Most fans speculate, reasonably, that Cars 3 was delisted due to the license agreement between Disney and Warner Bros. expiring, which feels likely given that 2026 is the 20th anniversary of this franchise. It is uncertain what, if anything, any company involved intends to do about this, but the 2017 game cannot, as of this writing, be purchased on any digital storefront. Only physical copies will still work since the game is not online-only. As is usually the case, those who purchased it digitally before this delisting should also still be able to play it.
Typically, such shutdowns or delistings are at least forewarned, but nothing was publicly announced. Electronic Arts, for example, has been shutting down a lot of online servers for games like Dragon Age: Inquisition lately, but typically, they are announced weeks ahead of time. Disney fans who enjoy the Cars franchise were completely caught off-guard by this. Meanwhile, several Disney games have also been delisted on Steam, with 14 leaving the storefront as recently as mid-April 2026. What the connection is, if any, remains unclear.
While some fans may not be that concerned about something like Cars 3, it’s worth noting that such games can have unexpected roles in the industry. Of note, here, is that Avalanche Software developed Cars 3. After that, it would go on to develop Hogwarts Legacy and release it in 2023—6 years after Cars 3. There may be no immediate connection between the two games, but experience and talent in the studio developed from one to the other. It’s worth noting that something similar could, but is less likely, to happen with a game like Hogwarts Legacy since WB owns the film and TV rights to the property.
Overall, video game shutdowns, delistings, and similar actions are why the Stop Killing Games movement got started. If Cars 3 required online connectivity to play, despite having no reason to justifiably need it (as is the case with many games), then it would just be gone forever and completely.
