Why isn't it possible to permanently remove Xbox games?

Steam allows you to "permanently" remove a game from your account. I say "permanently" because it's not actually permanent; you can search up the game in Support and say "Hey, why don't I have this game in my library?" and Steam's response is "Uh, you asked us to permanently remove the game. Do you want to restore the game to your account?"

So it does still keep an internal record of you once having the game in your library. However, beyond that I believe it does otherwise act as if you never had the game, with it not showing in your library, nor your hidden items, nor in your achievement information. So they're removing it from some databases without issue.

It would be nice if Xbox had the same ability. There is a free game I once accidentally started to install before quickly cancelling it. I had no interest in the game, but since I pressed the wrong button once, the game is now permanently tied to my account and that irks me.

I've seen another reasonable use case for permanent removal of a game where a parent wanted to remove the ability for his or her kids to redownload a game she didn't want them playing.

They're still hiding it. It's the same way when you delete a file it's flagged as being able to be overwritten, but remains until that actually happens. It's the same as clicking the plus and - sign browsing directories or hiding files on your local machine

The short answer is that removing things from a database can have unforeseen consequences.

It's why developers wall off cut material in games rather than delete it

what would the game be? if the developer removed it permanently from the store it really isn't an error, it can't be installed.

Hello, My name is Jesse. I'm an Independent Advisor and a member of the Microsoft community and I'd love to assist you today.

I'm afraid that isn't possible as an account is permanently deleted after 60 days and removed completely after a year.