Apple has listed as many as 15 games that will be leaving Apple Arcade soon, which is another reminder that you own nothing in the subscription economy.
- EarthNight, Spelldrifter, and Cardpocalypse are among more than two dozen Apple Arcade games that will soon leave the game subscription service.
- This is the first time Apple Arcade has lost multiple games at once. Due to Apple’s poor messaging, we don’t know what happens when the author of a title disappears from the game subscription service. Are your game saves saved? Removed?
- It’s the harsh reality of the subscription economy: On Netflix, non-original movies and shows are also available for a limited time due to licensing.
15 games will soon leave Apple Arcade
Apple Arcade has provided a Coming Soon section since its inception, where you can view games coming soon to Apple Arcade. And now Apple has implemented another section with a list of games that will soon leave Apple Arcade. The section titled “Coming Soon”highlights the following fifteen games that will soon no longer be available on Apple Arcade:
- Projection: First light
- life slide
- Different daily life
- EarthNight
- Redemption: Elderberry Heart
- Over the Alps
- Terrible Marine
- cardocalypse
- Towaga: Among the Shadows
- dead end job
- Do not lie to me!
- caster
- spiderosaurs
- exploit
- BattleSky Crew: Harpooner
To view the list on iPhone, iPad, or Mac, open the App Store and tap the Arcade tab, then select See All next to Leaving Apple Arcade Soon.
Apple Arcade like Netflix?
Apple has removed some games from Apple Arcade in the past, but this is the first time that a large number of games have left the wholesale subscription service. Apple Arcade is similar to Netflix in terms of content availability. Just as licensed films and shows from other studios appear on Netflix, spending several years on the platform (depending on the terms of the license agreement) before disappearing from the streaming service, the same is happening with Apple Arcade games.
None of the over 200 titles included in an Apple Arcade subscription is owned by Apple. These games would otherwise be available on the App Store for anyone to download and play, but are exclusive to Apple Arcade instead. And all exclusivity sooner or later comes to an end. Apple Arcade is no exception in this regard. Read: How to watch YouTube on Apple Watch
What happens when a game leaves Apple Arcade?
So it’s great that you can now see which games are leaving Apple Arcade. But this is not enough. Apple needs to do better than that. One crazy idea: highlight this information on the game page. And why not also write to your subscribers about titles that will soon no longer be available. So, what exactly happens when a title is removed from Apple Arcade due to the license agreement expiring?
Are game saves disappearing? We will know about it soon. The smart move would be to simply allow these expired games to relaunch in the App Store as non-Apple Arcade downloads, but that would mean moving to a freemium model and bringing back ads and annoying purchase offers. Read: How to cancel an Apple Arcade subscription