The issue with relying on subscription gaming services is that among all those new games, it’s inevitable some of your faves will eventually depart.
Xbox Game Pass subscribers deal with this all the time, and now it’s the turn of Apple Arcade members to lose access to a fleet of titles.
The first 15 games to depart Apple Arcade have been removed today, as agreements with the relevant developers have expired. Apple has decided not to renew them.
They are (as spotted by MacRumors) as follows:
- Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree
- BattleSky Brigade: Harpooner
- Cardpocalypse
- Dead End Job
- Don’t Bug Me!
- Dread Nautical
- EarthNight
- Explottens
- Lifeslide
- Over the Alps
- Projection: First Light
- Spelldrifter
- Spidersaurs
- Towaga: Among Shadows
- Various Daylife
Now games are leaving, Apple has updated its support site to explain what happens when titles depart the £4.99 a month subscription service, which is also available as part of an Apple One bundle. Gamers will still be able to play the game for “at least two weeks” after it departs, giving you chance to make the most of it before it is “no longer available.”
Beyond that, if the dev’ decides to bring the game back to the App Store as a standalone app, you can purchase it and pick up your saved progress. That will mean buying the game you once had as part of your subscription, but them’s the breaks.
Apple Arcade arrived in 2019 as the company continued to build its services division following the success of subscription plans like Apple Music, iCloud storage, Apple News, and more. It offers exclusive access to a growing (albeit now shrinking too) array of mobile games for a monthly fee. The games are touchscreen optimised, but are also compatible with the controllers that can be connected to your iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
