Earlier in March we found that Lost Citieshad suddenly disappeared from the Xbox Live Marketplace. We pondered why this might be but the latest issue of Official Xbox Magazine sets it all straight:

"Truly Lost: Lost Cities isn't on our list because this engrossing card game is no longer on XBLA. When Vivendi merged with Activision, the Lost Cities license reverted back to the licensor."

There you have it, it was a licensing issue. This happens all the time in retail games. For example Batman: The Dark Knight was canned for consoles because they couldn't complete the game within the allotted time EA had the license for it. Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 on the original Xbox became quite rare after EA got the Marvel license for fighting games soon after its release and could no longer print new copies.

Depending on the each games original contracts, this could end up happening a bit. SpongeBob Underpants Slam by THQ, Shrek 'N Roll by Activision, Watchmen by WB, heck even UNO all use licenses owned by other companies, which only last a few years or so. This was usually fine in the days of retail as there was no need to reprint titles years after a game was released, but in this downloadable age this all might end up changing. Could even happen again with Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 on XBLA and PSN, but we certainly hope not.

Source: OXM.