Subscription services are a double-edged sword. On one hand, you get the latest and greatest for a fixed, reasonable monthly price. On the other, you don't buy any of the content's licenses, and you could lose access to any or all of it at any given moment. While this business model faces a lot of criticism, many customers actually prefer it over regular purchases. Apple Arcade is a subscription service from the Cupertino firm. As its name suggests, you get to play plenty of games for a monthly fee. Last month, a new Leaving Arcade Soon section appeared on the App Store. The games that had been listed there are no longer available on the service.
The Apple Arcade catalog has lost 15 games. Those who have already downloaded them can play them for two more weeks. Afterwards, no one will be able to access the actual games or their data anymore. Along with the games, Apple has also removed the Leaving Arcade Soon section from the App Store. This could mean that no other developer contracts are expiring soon. Nonetheless, we expect to see it again in the future -- when Apple is preparing to remove other games. The list of inaccessible games includes:
- Projection: First Light
- Lifeslide
- Various Daylife
- EarthNight
- Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree
- Over the Alps
- Dread Nautical
- Cardpocalypse
- Towaga: Among Shadows
- Dead End Job
- Don’t Bug Me!
- Spelldrifter
- Spidersaurs
- Explottens
- BattleSky Brigade: Harpooner
Considering that Arcade titles could disappear from the App Store at any given time, some players might find it hard to invest their time in these games. Ultimately, they'd lose access to all of their progress, and all of the spent efforts would be gone. Apple allows developers to re-release removed games as independent App Store titles. Whether devs actively take advantage of this remains unclear for now.
Do you play any of the affected Apple Arcade titles? If so, which? Let us know in the comments section below.
Via: MacRumors