Abandoned plugins that are still available for sale?

[UltimateOutsider]

This applies to both instruments and effects plugins, but do you know of any companies whose products are essentially abandoned (outdated, no updates, no support), but are still available for sale?

I bought a plugin last night that I now believe has been fully abandoned by its publisher. I didn't suspect anything until after installing it, when I realized the installer only included VST2 plugins, no VST3- and I then noticed that the plugin's DLL had a 2017 timestamp (when I had thought it was a lot more recent, as I had seen it in some recent videos). I will not name them yet, because I have submitted a support request and will wait a couple more days before I consider my suspicion confirmed.

I purchased the plugin for full price on Plugin Boutique. It wasn't until I realized there was no VST3 version that I tried going to the original publisher's site. It's still online, but they have no SSL/TLS certificate for their domain, so some browsers won't even open their page. Anyway, I am curious how common this is. I mean I have lived through several publishers shutting down and either distributing their plugins for free or simply not making them available anymore- but this is the first time I've actually paid for a plugin that (I think) the original publisher has zero intention of supporting.

Anyway- any other examples of this sort of thing?

[Echoes in the Attic]

Why not post which plugin it was?

2caudio is an example that comes to mind.

[DJErmac]

The infamous ArtsAcoustic plugins and their marvelous Reverb (used in Avenger) !
But the other ones, the compressor and the phaser, are as good.
https://www.artsacoustic.com/

[UltimateOutsider]

Why not post which plugin it was?

I don't want to throw them under the bus if they are actively supporting their product. If they don't respond to my support request in a couple of days, I will mention them here. I just don't want to jump the gun.

[UltimateOutsider]

The infamous ArtsAcoustic plugins and their marvelous Reverb (used in Avenger) !
But the other ones, the compressor and the phaser, are as good.
https://www.artsacoustic.com/

Interesting- looks like they still have a Shop page with prices listed, but they removed the "Buy Now" links. You can still download demo versions of the plugs, but doesn't appear that you can currently buy them (unless they are being sold elsewhere?).

[Examigan]

Audjoo Helix hasn't been updated for quite a while AFAIK, (e.g. no VST3) but I think the developer still responds to issues. It's still great, but I'd like an updated UI for it.

[DJErmac]

The infamous ArtsAcoustic plugins and their marvelous Reverb (used in Avenger) !
But the other ones, the compressor and the phaser, are as good.
https://www.artsacoustic.com/

Interesting- looks like they still have a Shop page with prices listed, but they removed the "Buy Now" links. You can still download demo versions of the plugs, but doesn't appear that you can currently buy them (unless they are being sold elsewhere?).

Oh you’re right. It shows they’re not available for sale anymore.
I purchased some while they were long discontinuated though.

[martiu]

native instruments reaktor

[Examigan]

Sunrizer isn’t available anymore for PC, but is available for iOS. I’m not sure if that version is still updated or not, but they still sell it.

[enCiphered]

I think "abandoned" can be a pretty broad term these days. For me, if a plugin has no proper GUI scaling for modern high-DPI/4K monitors, it's effectively abandoned, even if it's still technically working or sold. By that standard, there are a lot of plugins that could be considered abandoned.

[morphex]

Why not post which plugin it was?

I don't want to throw them under the bus if they are actively supporting their product. If they don't respond to my support request in a couple of days, I will mention them here. I just don't want to jump the gun.

Considering how important our reputations are, that’s actually a very mature and ethical way of handling it. Some developers are routinely dragged through the mud without a second thought, and often before having a few days to respond to a support ticket first.

It would decrease the amount of online drama if more people were willing to give a company the benefit of the doubt until they’ve made contact. Sometimes that requires patience, which happens to be severely lacking in the culture.

[Examigan]

Why not post which plugin it was?

I don't want to throw them under the bus if they are actively supporting their product. If they don't respond to my support request in a couple of days, I will mention them here. I just don't want to jump the gun.

Considering how important our reputations are, that’s actually a very mature and ethical way of handling it. Some developers are routinely dragged through the mud without a second thought, and often before having a few days to respond to a support ticket first.

It would decrease the amount of online drama if more people were willing to give a company the benefit of the doubt until they’ve made contact. Sometimes that requires patience, which happens to be severely lacking in the culture.

Yep, if it is only 2 or 3 days that's not bad. I sent a request to Roland Cloud one time and they didn't get back to me about the issue. I even wrote back about it 2-3 months later and they still didn't respond. They have been better at responding over the years though. It just depends on the developer; e.g. Tone2 and KV331 Audio normally respond in a quick manner.

[Tj Shredder]

First you need to contact Pluginboutique. They sold it and usually do support as well. You might get a refund. PB still sells the Sonivox stuff, or Air comes to mind, though Air is alive again and they try to revitalize their old plugins…

[SamDi]

I think "abandoned" can be a pretty broad term these days. For me, if a plugin has no proper GUI scaling for modern high-DPI/4K monitors, it's effectively abandoned, even if it's still technically working or sold. By that standard, there are a lot of plugins that could be considered abandoned.

So pretty much everything from Native instruments and Steinberg

[enCiphered]

I think "abandoned" can be a pretty broad term these days. For me, if a plugin has no proper GUI scaling for modern high-DPI/4K monitors, it's effectively abandoned, even if it's still technically working or sold. By that standard, there are a lot of plugins that could be considered abandoned.

So pretty much everything from Native instruments and Steinberg

Yes, exactly. Padshop Pro is one of the best, if not the best, granular effect plugins. It has become unusable for me because I can no longer see the controls properly on a modern monitor. Of course, it hasn’t been officially abandoned for that reason, but I had to abandon it myself. As for Native Instruments... yeah, Absynth is the best example but at least they no longer sell it.