diff --git a/pkgs/games/privateer/0001-fix-VSFile-constructor.patch b/pkgs/games/privateer/0001-fix-VSFile-constructor.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index 05b02fe5d73b..000000000000
--- a/pkgs/games/privateer/0001-fix-VSFile-constructor.patch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
-From e779a2b8d53e7e4721ce5ddb8e8b1caa753b66dd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
-From: Florian Friesdorf <flo@chaoflow.net>
-Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2012 23:32:19 +0100
-Subject: [PATCH] fix VSFile constructor
-
----
- src/vsfilesystem.h |    2 +-
- 1 files changed, 1 insertions(+), 1 deletions(-)
-
-diff --git a/src/vsfilesystem.h b/src/vsfilesystem.h
-index 4bb7a66..71bf9b9 100644
---- a/src/vsfilesystem.h
-+++ b/src/vsfilesystem.h
-@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ namespace VSFileSystem
- 			VSFile();
- 			VSFile( const char * buffer, long size, VSFileType type=ZoneBuffer, VSFileMode=ReadOnly);
- 			VSFile( const char * filename, VSFileType type=UnknownFile, VSFileMode=ReadOnly);
--			VSFile( const string &filename, VSFileType type=UnknownFile) { VSFile::VSFile( filename.c_str(), type); }
-+			VSFile( const string &filename, VSFileType type=UnknownFile) { VSFile( filename.c_str(), type); }
-   			~VSFile();
- 
- 			FILE *	GetFP() { return this->fp; } // This is still needed for special cases (when loading PNG files)
--- 
-1.7.8
-
diff --git a/pkgs/games/privateer/default.nix b/pkgs/games/privateer/default.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index f3ea6dc8cb19..000000000000
--- a/pkgs/games/privateer/default.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,44 +0,0 @@
-{ lib, stdenv, fetchsvn, boost, cmake, ffmpeg_3, freeglut, glib,
-  gtk2, libjpeg, libpng, libpthreadstubs, libvorbis, libXau, libXdmcp,
-  libXmu, libGLU, libGL, openal, pixman, pkg-config, python27, SDL }:
-
-stdenv.mkDerivation {
-  name = "privateer-1.03";
-
-  src = fetchsvn {
-    #url = "mirror://sourceforge/project/privateer/Wing%20Commander%20Privateer/Privateer%20Gemini%20Gold%201.03/PrivateerGold1.03.bz2.bin";
-    url = "https://privateer.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/privateer/privgold/trunk/engine";
-    rev = "294";
-    sha256 = "e1759087d4565d3fc95e5c87d0f6ddf36b2cd5befec5695ec56ed5f3cd144c63";
-  };
-
-  nativeBuildInputs = [ cmake pkg-config ];
-  buildInputs =
-    [ boost ffmpeg_3 freeglut glib gtk2 libjpeg libpng
-      libpthreadstubs libvorbis libXau libXdmcp libXmu libGLU libGL openal
-      pixman python27 SDL ];
-
-  patches = [ ./0001-fix-VSFile-constructor.patch ];
-
-  preConfigure = ''
-    NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE="$NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE $(pkg-config --cflags gtk+-2.0)"
-  '';
-
-  installPhase = ''
-    mkdir -p $out/bin
-    cp vegastrike $out/bin
-    cp vegaserver $out/bin
-  '';
-
-  meta = with lib; {
-    homepage = "http://privateer.sourceforge.net/";
-    description = "Adventure space flight simulation computer game";
-    license = licenses.gpl2Plus; # and a special license for art data
-    # https://sourceforge.net/p/privateer/code/HEAD/tree/privgold/trunk/data/art-license.txt
-
-    maintainers = with maintainers; [ ];
-    platforms = with platforms; linux ++ darwin;
-    hydraPlatforms = [];
-    broken = true; # it won't build
-  };
-}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/aliases.nix b/pkgs/top-level/aliases.nix
index fe2b1025c486..3be4940d8b0e 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/aliases.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/aliases.nix
@@ -606,6 +606,7 @@ mapAliases ({
   postgis = postgresqlPackages.postgis;
   # end
   ppl-address-book = throw "ppl-address-book deprecated on 2019-05-02: abandoned by upstream.";
+  privateer = throw "privateer was removed because it was broken"; # added 2021-05-18
   processing3 = processing; # added 2019-08-16
   procps-ng = procps; # added 2018-06-08
   proj_5 = throw "Proj-5 has been removed from nixpkgs, use proj instead."; # added 2021-04-12
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 0c1240f02854..68ec73e167ab 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -28307,8 +28307,6 @@ in
 
   prboom = callPackage ../games/prboom { };
 
-  privateer = callPackage ../games/privateer { };
-
   pysolfc = python3Packages.callPackage ../games/pysolfc { };
 
   qqwing = callPackage ../games/qqwing { };