This game developer is accusiong Apple of removing its game from App Store, here's why

Apple

Apple seems to be in troubled waters again, as the Cupertino-based tech giant has now been accused of delisting an app without any justification. Santa Ragione, an Italian gaming developer of Horses and Saturnalia, has been told that its game Wheels of Aurelia will be removed from the App Store on July 25. Moreover, the studio accuses Apple of doing this because the game hasn’t been updated in years, even though it still runs fine on modern iPhones.

Wheels of Aurelia was launched in 2016, and is a visual novel about a young woman on a road trip in 1970s Italy and the people she meets along the way. The game has developed a niche audience since its inception. However, Santa Ragione co-founder and director Pietro Righi Riva revealed that the Wheels of Aurelia will be delisted on July 25 from the App Store, with Apple citing its removal because of its policy to remove outdated apps.

In contrast, Riva states the game remains “fully functional and compliant with current technical standards” and that no proper reason has been provided behind this decision, despite multiple appeals. He also adds that Apple is forcing unnecessary updates for the game, which "represent a substantial financial burden" for developers, and "negatively impact their ability to sustain existing projects and to pursue new creative endeavours."

An Apple spokesperson, without referencing the game, has told Game Developer that apps that have not been updated over the past three years and fail to meet a minimal download threshold could be removed from the App Store, hinting at the reasoning behind this decision. Santa Ragione is now making the game free to download on iPhone until Apple permanently removes the game from its marketplace on July 25.