Live Wire, the company behind the Nintendo Switch reissue of several classic Cave shoot 'em ups, has released a series of unexpected updates earlier today, introducing online leaderboards to four of its previously released titles.
As spotted by Gosokkyu, the list of titles to receive a surprising update includes DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou (which was released in Japan late last year and in Europe in January 2025), but also, more curiously, three unavailable titles that the company had delisted last year: Mushihimesama, DoDonPachi Resurrection (otherwise known as DoDonPachi Daifukkatsu in Japan), and Espgaluda 2
Live Wire's ports of Cave's 2004 bullet hell shooter Mushihimesama, DoDonPachi Resurrection, and Espgaluda 2 were all originally released back in 2021, but were all delisted following "the expiration of [Live Wire's] license agreement".
Mushihimesama was the first to be delisted, being removed on August 10th, 2024, with Dodonpachi Resurrection and Espgaluda 2 following not long after, on December 2nd. At the time, those who had already bought and downloaded the game were told that they would be able to remove and re-download the game whenever they wanted, but it was generally assumed that support for the titles would end.
Now it appears, however, that a team within Live Wire has been working behind the scenes to further update the three games (alongside DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou), to finally make it possible to compete against other players across the globe for high scores and introduce a new wallpaper viewing feature to the shop and gallery in DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou.
We're not exactly sure what it all means, but it's interesting, nonetheless, to see the company still giving the titles some attention, despite most of them no longer being available for sale on the eShop.