 Following the announcement, USC Interactive Media Division withdrew its sponsorship of the festival. Seven of the fourteen finalist games were removed from the contest by their developers in protest: Braid, flOw, Once Upon A Time, Toblo, Everyday Shooter, Book and Volume and Castle Crashers (Toblo was later reinstated by the DigiPen Institute of Technology, who owns the rights to the game). Developer Jonathan Blow of Braid stated: "[Super Columbine Massacre] lacks compassion, and I find the Artist's Statement disingenuous. But despite this, the game does have redeeming value. It does provoke important thoughts, and it does push the boundaries of what games are about. It is composed with more of an eye toward art than most games. Clearly, it belongs at the festival." Blow and the other developers sent an open letter to the festival, encouraging the reinstatement of the game as keeping with the festival's "trailblazing" efforts. Despite protests, Baxter refused to change his mind, citing consideration for the shooting's victims and their families. Ledonne told the other finalists that he planned to go to the festival anyway and distribute copies of the game. Acknowledging that the withdrawal of six finalists compromised the competition, Roberts let the attendees vote on whether any prizes would be awarded; they decided not to.
