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Devs Are Up in Arms After Apple Says It Will Remove Games That Haven’t Been Updated

Game developers are upset over an Apple policy change that will see apps deleted if they've not been recently updated.

On Twitter, Protopop Games (below) shared an email from Apple that said their app had not been updated in "a significant amount of time" and would therefore be deleted from the App Store.

The game in question, Motivoto, was completed and therefore last updated three years ago in March 2019, but Apple told Protopop Games that "if no update is submitted within 30 days, the app will be removed from sale."

The complaints center around the fact that all games will eventually cease receiving updates as developers move on, but will plausibly remain functional from that point onwards. Apple's new policy could see swathes of classic games removed simply due to having been released years earlier. We've reached out to Apple for comment on the reasoning behind the new policy.

Protopop Games, a single-person developer, said in follow-up tweets: "I'm sitting here on a Friday night, working myself to [the] bone after my day job, trying my best to scrape a living from my indie games, trying to keep up with Apple, Google, Unity, Xcode, MacOS changes that happen so fast my head spins.

"Now I am expected, along with Google's new program, to update all of my games every 2 years even if nothing is wrong with them.

"Now I need to dig up my project file, update the Unity version to make sure it meets the App Store requirements, rebuild, retest, resubmit all to get the exact same game in the exact same place it was before."

Protopop is not the only developer sharing concerns over the new policy. Twitter user @lazerwalker, who makes experimental games with novel interfaces, said Apple was also removing her older games.

"Games can exist as completed objects," she said. "These free projects aren't suitable for updates or a live service model, they're finished artworks from years ago."

Developer of Rated Mutant, @TezFraser on Twitter, said: "If you've ever wondered why I stopped making mobile games this is why. It honestly wasn't worth the effort to keep up with all the App Store nonsense."

The new rule affects all apps, not just games, with Twitter user @keleftheriou saying "Apple also removed a version of my FlickType Keyboard that catered specifically to the visually impaired community."

The move from Apple has otherwise been criticised for its lack of consideration of game preservation, as essentially only live service games will remain on the platform without intervention.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Posted in Uncategorized

Devs Are Up in Arms After Apple Says It Will Remove Games That Haven’t Been Updated

Game developers are upset over an Apple policy change that will see apps deleted if they've not been recently updated.

On Twitter, Protopop Games (below) shared an email from Apple that said their app had not been updated in "a significant amount of time" and would therefore be deleted from the App Store.

The game in question, Motivoto, was completed and therefore last updated three years ago in March 2019, but Apple told Protopop Games that "if no update is submitted within 30 days, the app will be removed from sale."

The complaints center around the fact that all games will eventually cease receiving updates as developers move on, but will plausibly remain functional from that point onwards. Apple's new policy could see swathes of classic games removed simply due to having been released years earlier. We've reached out to Apple for comment on the reasoning behind the new policy.

Protopop Games, a single-person developer, said in follow-up tweets: "I'm sitting here on a Friday night, working myself to [the] bone after my day job, trying my best to scrape a living from my indie games, trying to keep up with Apple, Google, Unity, Xcode, MacOS changes that happen so fast my head spins.

"Now I am expected, along with Google's new program, to update all of my games every 2 years even if nothing is wrong with them.

"Now I need to dig up my project file, update the Unity version to make sure it meets the App Store requirements, rebuild, retest, resubmit all to get the exact same game in the exact same place it was before."

Protopop is not the only developer sharing concerns over the new policy. Twitter user @lazerwalker, who makes experimental games with novel interfaces, said Apple was also removing her older games.

"Games can exist as completed objects," she said. "These free projects aren't suitable for updates or a live service model, they're finished artworks from years ago."

Developer of Rated Mutant, @TezFraser on Twitter, said: "If you've ever wondered why I stopped making mobile games this is why. It honestly wasn't worth the effort to keep up with all the App Store nonsense."

The new rule affects all apps, not just games, with Twitter user @keleftheriou saying "Apple also removed a version of my FlickType Keyboard that catered specifically to the visually impaired community."

The move from Apple has otherwise been criticised for its lack of consideration of game preservation, as essentially only live service games will remain on the platform without intervention.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Posted in Uncategorized

Ubisoft Reportedly Being Targeted for Acquisition

Assassin's Creed creator Ubisoft is reportedly being studied by private equity firms with "preliminary takeover interests".

Anonymous sources told Bloomberg that several companies - including the world's biggest private equity firms Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co. - are considering a takeover.

Ubisoft reportedly hasn't yet entered into serious negotiations with these companies, however, and it's currently uncertain if it will, or if the firms will pursue a takeover at all.

Sources also told Kotaku that various aspects of Ubisoft's business have been audited in recent years in anticipation of a potential sale, though these audits are also fairly common for companies looking to become more profitable.

It's unknown how a potential acquisition of Ubisoft may affect its games, if at all, but current and former Ubisoft employees also told Kotaku that the publisher is currently experiencing production issues, evidenced by several delays, among other things.

These problems, combined with dipping stock prices (which have fallen from $110 per share in July 2018 to $41 today) will likely lead to a sale, the sources said.

Ubisoft, led by CEO Yves Guillemot, battled and eventually won against a hostile takeover attempt by French entertainment powerhouse Vivendi in 2018, and the Guillemot family still holds the biggest stake in the company at 15%.

Speaking on Ubisoft's latest earnings call, Guillemot said that Ubisoft was open to reviewing any offers to buy the publisher and neither confirmed nor denied that it had been approached by potential buyers.

Acquiring developers has become a major strategy for gaming industry titans like PlayStation and Xbox in recent years with both companies showing no signs of slowing down.

Xbox's purchase of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion will be one of the biggest in entertainment history when the deal goes through, putting it on par with Disney's purchase of 21st Century Fox for $71.3 billion and just shy of AT&T's purchase of Time Warner for $85.4 billion.

Sony, on the other hand, acquired Bungie in February, adding it to the list of more than half a dozen other studios its purchased since last year.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Posted in Uncategorized

Ubisoft Reportedly Being Targeted for Acquisition

Assassin's Creed creator Ubisoft is reportedly being studied by private equity firms with "preliminary takeover interests".

Anonymous sources told Bloomberg that several companies - including the world's biggest private equity firms Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co. - are considering a takeover.

Ubisoft reportedly hasn't yet entered into serious negotiations with these companies, however, and it's currently uncertain if it will, or if the firms will pursue a takeover at all.

Sources also told Kotaku that various aspects of Ubisoft's business have been audited in recent years in anticipation of a potential sale, though these audits are also fairly common for companies looking to become more profitable.

It's unknown how a potential acquisition of Ubisoft may affect its games, if at all, but current and former Ubisoft employees also told Kotaku that the publisher is currently experiencing production issues, evidenced by several delays, among other things.

These problems, combined with dipping stock prices (which have fallen from $110 per share in July 2018 to $41 today) will likely lead to a sale, the sources said.

Ubisoft, led by CEO Yves Guillemot, battled and eventually won against a hostile takeover attempt by French entertainment powerhouse Vivendi in 2018, and the Guillemot family still holds the biggest stake in the company at 15%.

Speaking on Ubisoft's latest earnings call, Guillemot said that Ubisoft was open to reviewing any offers to buy the publisher and neither confirmed nor denied that it had been approached by potential buyers.

Acquiring developers has become a major strategy for gaming industry titans like PlayStation and Xbox in recent years with both companies showing no signs of slowing down.

Xbox's purchase of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion will be one of the biggest in entertainment history when the deal goes through, putting it on par with Disney's purchase of 21st Century Fox for $71.3 billion and just shy of AT&T's purchase of Time Warner for $85.4 billion.

Sony, on the other hand, acquired Bungie in February, adding it to the list of more than half a dozen other studios its purchased since last year.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Posted in Uncategorized

Twitter Accepts Elon Musk Buyout

Update 4/25 11:54 am PT:

Twitter has announced that it has agreed to Elon Musk's $44 billion bid for the social media company. In a press release, Twitter announced that upon completion of the deal, Twitter will become a privately held company owned wholly by Musk.

Following a storyline where Musk initially acquired Twitter stock to join the company's board has evolved into one of the biggest social media purchases in recent history. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal says in a statement "Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important."

Musk also issued a statement saying, "Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated."

Musk added, "I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all Humans."

Original Story: Reports have suggested that Twitter will accept Elon Musk’s $43 billion buyout offer later today.

According to Bloomberg, sources say that the social media company is in “the final stretch of negotiations” with Musk for a $43 billion sale. Twitter is apparently finalizing terms for the transaction, and that could be completed today should everything “go smoothly.”

The Wall Street Journal reports that Twitter and Musk met on Sunday to discuss the Tesla and Space CEO’s offer. The WSJ report, published on April 24, suggested that there was no guarantee that a deal would be reached, but today Bloomberg’s sources seem to claim that a deal will indeed go through.

These events follow Twitter putting together a “shareholders rights plan” in an effort to block Musk’s gargantuan offer. At the time, that was the culmination of a series of events that began when Musk purchased just over 9% of Twitter in shares, becoming the social media company’s largest shareholder. He was then offered a seat on Twitter’s board of directors, but Musk turned the proposal down. His next act was to offer to buy the entire company for $54.20 per share in cash.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Features Editor.

Matt Kim is IGN's News Editor.

(Photo by PATRICK PLEUL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Posted in Uncategorized

Twitter Could Reportedly Accept Elon Musk Buyout Today

Reports have suggested that Twitter will accept Elon Musk’s $43 billion buyout offer later today.

According to Bloomberg, sources say that the social media company is in “the final stretch of negotiations” with Musk for a $43 billion sale. Twitter is apparently finalizing terms for the transaction, and that could be completed today should everything “go smoothly.”

The Wall Street Journal reports that Twitter and Musk met on Sunday to discuss the Tesla and Space CEO’s offer. The WSJ report, published on April 24, suggested that there was no guarantee that a deal would be reached, but today Bloomberg’s sources seem to claim that a deal will indeed go through.

These events follow Twitter putting together a “shareholders rights plan” in an effort to block Musk’s gargantuan offer. At the time, that was the culmination of a series of events that began when Musk purchased just over 9% of Twitter in shares, becoming the social media company’s largest shareholder. He was then offered a seat on Twitter’s board of directors, but Musk turned the proposal down. His next act was to offer to buy the entire company for $54.20 per share in cash.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Features Editor.

Posted in Uncategorized

Xbox Hiring to Help It Find More Acquisitions

Xbox is hiring a new employee to help manage its merger and acquisitions programme – suggesting that there may well be more studio acquisitions in its future.

As reported by Video Games Chronicle, Microsoft is seeking a Manager of Gaming Strategy and Development whose responsibilities will include, "Developing and evaluating the business case for content & technology acquisitions." It seems to indicate the company has no plans to slow down its purchasing of developers and other gaming companies.

Referencing the acquisition of Bethesda in 2020 and the intended purchase of Activision Blizzard announced earlier this year, the post states the new manager will seek to "identify and evaluate transformative growth opportunities."

Xbox and PlayStation have been locked in somewhat of an acquisitions race in recent years as both publishers have pushed to expand their range of first-party studios.

Xbox's purchase of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion will be one of the biggest in entertainment history when the deal goes through, putting it on par with Disney's purchase of 21st Century Fox for $71.3 billion and just shy of AT&T's purchase of Time Warner for $85.4 billion.

Sony, on the other hand, purchased Bungie in February for $3.6 billion and in the last year has also acquired several other studios including Bluepoint and Housemarque.

It also has no intentions of slowing down, as Sony Interactive Entertainment president Jim Ryan said earlier this month that it already has more purchases planned.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Posted in Uncategorized

Xbox Hiring to Help It Find More Acquisitions

Xbox is hiring a new employee to help manage its merger and acquisitions programme – suggesting that there may well be more studio acquisitions in its future.

As reported by Video Games Chronicle, Microsoft is seeking a Manager of Gaming Strategy and Development whose responsibilities will include, "Developing and evaluating the business case for content & technology acquisitions." It seems to indicate the company has no plans to slow down its purchasing of developers and other gaming companies.

Referencing the acquisition of Bethesda in 2020 and the intended purchase of Activision Blizzard announced earlier this year, the post states the new manager will seek to "identify and evaluate transformative growth opportunities."

Xbox and PlayStation have been locked in somewhat of an acquisitions race in recent years as both publishers have pushed to expand their range of first-party studios.

Xbox's purchase of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion will be one of the biggest in entertainment history when the deal goes through, putting it on par with Disney's purchase of 21st Century Fox for $71.3 billion and just shy of AT&T's purchase of Time Warner for $85.4 billion.

Sony, on the other hand, purchased Bungie in February for $3.6 billion and in the last year has also acquired several other studios including Bluepoint and Housemarque.

It also has no intentions of slowing down, as Sony Interactive Entertainment president Jim Ryan said earlier this month that it already has more purchases planned.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Posted in Uncategorized

Elden Ring Dataminer Gets Inaccessible Colosseum Area Actually Working

An Elden Ring dataminer has managed to get the game's inaccessible colosseum content actually working.

Back in March, Souls game hacker Lance McDonald managed to look around the game's locked colosseum locations, speculating that they'd be used for DLC. Now, YouTuber Sekiro Dubi has uploaded a video that seemingly reveals the colosseum's hidden Sites of Grace, location names, and even battling NPCs.

Sekiro Dubi used a map editor called DSMapStudio to effectively break into the colosseum in the Leyndell area, see what was cut, and then piece it all back together, revealing that developer FromSoftware seemingly intended it to be used for actual gladiator fights.

The video shows a giant lion fighting a knight in the colosseum, whose placeholder names were simply listed as "Old Lion of Arena" and "Gladiator Large" respectively.

Sekiro Dubi also uncovers a nameless Site of Grace inside the area, and digging through Elden Ring's Network Test files reveals a Stormveil Colosseum, meaning this one would likely just be Leyndell Colosseum.

A second, unfinished Site of Grace can be found further inside the area that was named internally (and therefore unofficially) as "Return point Bonfire Reception desk", with Bonfires being the Dark Souls equivalent of a Site of Grace.

Despite the new information, it's still unclear if the colosseums spread across Elden Ring's world are an abandoned portion of the game that simply didn't make the final cut or if they're early versions of a potential DLC.

The Limgrave Colosseum is guarded by an NPC invader and another NPC sitting outside asks why they can't get in. The Ritual Shield Talisman available outside the Leyndell Colosseum states the arenas are remains of a bygone era, showing that FromSoftware definitely had a story for them in mind.

DLC that takes the player back in time is also a completely common part of FromSoftware games. The original Dark Souls does exactly that in the Artorias of the Abyss DLC, Bloodborne follows suit with The Old Hunters, and though not DLC, Sekiro also features extensive sections that are set in the past.

It will likely be a while before FromSoftware comments on DLC but given Elden Ring's success and the developer's history, an expansion could be likely.

In our 10/10 review, IGN said: "Elden Ring is a massive iteration on what FromSoftware began with the Souls series, bringing its relentlessly challenging combat to an incredible open world that gives us the freedom to choose our own path."

To make those choices with the best available information, check out our guide that features everything you could ever hope to know about Elden Ring, including collectible locations, boss strategies, and more.

Posted in Uncategorized

Elden Ring Dataminer Gets Inaccessible Colosseum Area Actually Working

An Elden Ring dataminer has managed to get the game's inaccessible colosseum content actually working.

Back in March, Souls game hacker Lance McDonald managed to look around the game's locked colosseum locations, speculating that they'd be used for DLC. Now, YouTuber Sekiro Dubi has uploaded a video that seemingly reveals the colosseum's hidden Sites of Grace, location names, and even battling NPCs.

Sekiro Dubi used a map editor called DSMapStudio to effectively break into the colosseum in the Leyndell area, see what was cut, and then piece it all back together, revealing that developer FromSoftware seemingly intended it to be used for actual gladiator fights.

The video shows a giant lion fighting a knight in the colosseum, whose placeholder names were simply listed as "Old Lion of Arena" and "Gladiator Large" respectively.

Sekiro Dubi also uncovers a nameless Site of Grace inside the area, and digging through Elden Ring's Network Test files reveals a Stormveil Colosseum, meaning this one would likely just be Leyndell Colosseum.

A second, unfinished Site of Grace can be found further inside the area that was named internally (and therefore unofficially) as "Return point Bonfire Reception desk", with Bonfires being the Dark Souls equivalent of a Site of Grace.

Despite the new information, it's still unclear if the colosseums spread across Elden Ring's world are an abandoned portion of the game that simply didn't make the final cut or if they're early versions of a potential DLC.

The Limgrave Colosseum is guarded by an NPC invader and another NPC sitting outside asks why they can't get in. The Ritual Shield Talisman available outside the Leyndell Colosseum states the arenas are remains of a bygone era, showing that FromSoftware definitely had a story for them in mind.

DLC that takes the player back in time is also a completely common part of FromSoftware games. The original Dark Souls does exactly that in the Artorias of the Abyss DLC, Bloodborne follows suit with The Old Hunters, and though not DLC, Sekiro also features extensive sections that are set in the past.

It will likely be a while before FromSoftware comments on DLC but given Elden Ring's success and the developer's history, an expansion could be likely.

In our 10/10 review, IGN said: "Elden Ring is a massive iteration on what FromSoftware began with the Souls series, bringing its relentlessly challenging combat to an incredible open world that gives us the freedom to choose our own path."

To make those choices with the best available information, check out our guide that features everything you could ever hope to know about Elden Ring, including collectible locations, boss strategies, and more.

Posted in Uncategorized
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