Several video game titles have been taken off of various digital distribution platforms due to the contracts between Marvel and the games' developers expiring.

The news was first announced on Facebook where Activision revealed that their Marvel games — Deadpool, Spider Man: Shattered Dimensions, and several X-Men titles— would be taken off of Steam, PlayStation Network and Xbox Live by the end of 2013.

"Celebrate the final days of 2013 with one last chance to download Activision's Marvel collection to your console. From now until the end of the year, save big on hits featuring Spider-Man, the X-Men, Deadpool, and more. These games - and their corresponding DLC - will no longer be available on the Xbox Games Store or the PlayStation Network after New Year's Eve, so if you've been dragging your heels to snag a digital copy, now's the time to pick up your controller and play at a great price," Activision wrote on Facebook. 

In addition, Activision's community manager Dan Amrich confirmed on Twitter that the legendary Marvel vs. Capcom game is also being affected by this move as it appears that Capcom is also being forced to remove their games from different online stores.

The most likely explanation for this move is that Marvel's current contract with various video game companies has expired, so unless the contracts are removed, these games will disappear. There should still be physical copies of these games available, but Capcom and Activision will have to stop producing new copies of the games due to this contract situation. Perhaps Disney is looking to create Marvel games using their own developers as Disney now owns the Marvel Company and all their franchises. Disney could also be looking to set up EA in a contract similar to the 10-year agreement between Disney and EA for the rights to develop "Star Wars" games.

This news may be quite the shock to many, especially due to the fact that some of the games no longer available online are relatively new. For example, Deadpool has only been available for about six months, so this game being pulled from Steam, Xbox Live, and the PlayStation Network is odd, to say the least.

It will be interesting to see what sort of further developments come from this news. Look out for more news on upcoming Marvel games and any new potential deals between the company and new publisher's right here.