Electronic Arts have developed a range of titles for the mobile market, including many unique experiences only available on mobile devices. Classic applications such as Real Racing, Flight Control and Bejeweled have all shaped how the mobile gaming genre has evolved, with many current releases showing influences from these early App Store hits. This weekend, Touch Arcade reported that Electronic Arts pulled a number of their classic iOS and Android titles from their respective stores earlier this month, after a quiet announcement on an EA Help page. Other spin-off titles interlinked with EA’s biggest triple-A franchises, such as Mass Effect and Dead Space, are no longer accessible.
Strangely, after further investigation, we have discovered that versions of many titles on the Windows Store are still available, and can be downloaded today, via both the free trial, and paid version. Currently, we are unsure whether this was intentional, and have reached out to Electronic Arts for a comment.
These are the following titles removed from stores, and will see no further updates:
- Bejeweled 2
- Burnout™ CRASH!
- Dead Space
- Don"t Fall Off
- Flight Control
- Flight Control Rocket
- Fly With Me
- Lemonade Tycoon
- MASS EFFECT™ INFILTRATOR
- MMA by EA SPORTS™
- Need for Speed Shift
- Real Racing
- Sims Medieval by EA
- Skate It by EA
- Spore™ Creatures
- Spore™ Origins
- SPY Mouse
This time last year, EA removed a large catalog of titles, including the hugely successful Need for Speed titles, Command & Conquer, and Alice: Madness Returns.
It is extremely sad to see these titles removed from major mobile ecosystems, after years of memories they have formed. Often, many of these games reached the top of store rankings, and holding a sturdy position due to their popularity. Sadly, this just proves how volatile digital marketplaces are, with a prime example being Flappy Bird, removed only a short while after it received its fame. Obviously the removals today have a different motive behind them, however a large drawback of a online marketplaces is still brought to light.
As of right now, Electronic Arts have stated that this decision was made to improve the quality of upcoming releases, by focusing time and assets on their latest projects. Most notably, the publisher is distributing the upcoming mobile racer, Need for Speed: No Limits, later this fall, after nearly 9 months of exclusivity to Taiwan and the Netherlands.
Source: Electronic Arts via Touch Arcade