Don’t expect Mixtape to be delisted because of an expiring music license
While Mixtape is full of licensed music, don’t expect that to shorten the game’s lifespan on digital storefronts.
In an interview with Kotaku, Beethoven & Dinosaur creative director Johnny Galvatron confirmed that Mixtape’s music was licensed “in perpetuity.” Publisher Annapurna Interactive followed this up with a message of its own on X, saying, “We heard some people say MIXTAPE would be delisted due to music licenses expiring. That was a lie.”
Many games are delisted because they failed commercially, but others go away because of the license agreements they are tied to. While attaching your game to a popular IP or including a well-known product can draw attention at launch, those license agreements are often not made in perpetuity. As a result, games like Star Trek: Resurgence, Lego 2K Drive, or the first four Forza Horizon titles are no longer available to purchase unless you can track down a physical copy.
Mixtape features 28 tracks from performers of varying popularity across many different eras. Securing the rights to all that music sounds like a licensing nightmare, so some concerned fans feared that those licensing agreements would limit how long Mixtape could be sold. Thankfully, these recent comments from Annapurna Interactive and Beethoven & Dinosaur confirm that this issue isn’t something that players should be concerned about.
Mixtape currently stands as one of 2026’s best-reviewed games, although its launch spawned a lot of discourse over how it appeals to millennials and the unlikable actions of its main character. If you want to try the game out for yourself, it’s available on Nintendo Switch 2, PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and is part of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate catalog.
