The Apple App Store in China has done its largest single-day removal of games yet, banishing 39,000 games during a 24-hour period. This has come with an increase in demanding to acquire games with licenses – all of the games that were removed had none or did not refurbish their license.
Mobile games have become one of the best methods last year to stay in contact with friends and family while in lockdown protocols. Titles such as Among Us, the hit imposter game, has taken the world by storm, thanks to its easy to understand mechanics, and the probability of being able to work together with loved ones from across the region or even the world. However, not all mobile games are made alike, as some haven’t obtained the license that is required to continue production.
Based on a report by Reuters, not only were 39,000 games removed from the China App Store but a total of 46,000 apps, in general, were removed. Among these games were famous titles such as NBA 2K20 and Assassin’s Creed Identity, with only 74 of the top 1,500 paid games actually being saved.
This wasn’t without warning though, as Apple had initially given the game’s publishers a set date at the end of June 2020 to pass a license issued by the government to keep their games running, and that would let the game developers use in-game purchases.
Apple then protracted the deadline until December 31, but even with that due date, all of those games weren’t able to acquire a license or did not renew, so now they have been totally removed, with Apple trying to “fall in line” with the content regulations of China.
It’s not shocking that Apple would do this, granting most of these titles are seemingly not that popular and it was more of a cleanup than singling out on a specific game or franchise. Chinese games, in general, have gotten very famous the past year, including the award-winning Genshin Impact, so they are certainly bringing in money for Apple.
This occurrence was more for the sake of keeping Apple’s hands clean. However, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s still a shame to witness a lot of apps and games get taken down so hastily. Even so, there’s still a lot of mobile games for players to resort to such as the ever-famous Among Us, as stated above. Another choice for gamers who are fans of another franchise, Pokemon, could still download the hit Pokemon Go game.
