Even without piracy, as far as Steam goes, theres only a handful of specific cases where you wouldn't be able to legitimately play a game after its been removed from the platform. You can even buy removed games through 3rd party sites with CD Keys and play the game still.
Theres a whole community dedicated to collecting games that have been removed from the store page.
BrianGriffin1208 t1_ivc9jz0 wrote
Reply to comment by j035u5 in Why do Console Gamers still care about physical games? by Marvin_Monkey04
Even without piracy, as far as Steam goes, theres only a handful of specific cases where you wouldn't be able to legitimately play a game after its been removed from the platform. You can even buy removed games through 3rd party sites with CD Keys and play the game still.
Theres a whole community dedicated to collecting games that have been removed from the store page.