Cricket fans the world over will be disappointed to learn that the Ashes Cricket 2013 title that was released on Steam is now no longer available. In fact, the game is one of the first games to be cancelled after it was launched, as developer 505 Games has decided that pulling the game from Steam and offering refunds to those who bought the game is the best way to preserve the brand's reputation.

505 released a statement about the post-launch cancellation to Gamespot and apologized to fans, the ECB, and the cricket community for the damage the broken game has caused:

"The net result of the challenges we have faced was a game which, despite our best efforts over the course of a 2 year development, couldn't meet the quality benchmarks of either us, our licensors or our customers. 505 Games' main priority right now is to protect the Ashes name and that of the ECB and Cricket Australia, and do what we can to recompense the cricket community...As the licensee and publisher of name for Ashes Cricket 2013, 505 Games would like to apologise publicly and sincerely to our licensors, the ECB and Cricket Australia, and their respective partners/sponsors, who have been nothing but patient and supportive of us throughout the challenges this project has presented, and who, ultimately, we have let down."

505 Games went on to say that they feel deep regret for making such a shoddy game and hope that the cricket community can forgive them for Ashes Cricket 2013:

"Our deepest apologies, however, are reserved for the fans of cricket and cricket games worldwide. 505 Games prides itself on being a safe pair of hands on which gamers of all tastes and denominations can rely to put their best foot forward to create compelling gaming experiences. It is clear that, in this instance, we have fallen way short of our stated aims and failed to deliver. We know that the mitigating factors, as highlighted above, hold little solace to the hordes of excited cricket fans worldwide who had hoped this year to be able to play out their fantasy of playing in the Ashes series...The people who purchased the game will be contacted very shortly with details of a full refund."
While 505 Games may wish that gamers will forget about Ashes Cricket 2013, the damage has already been done and a huge amount of videos showing just how buggy the game was during its brief run.