Soon after Apple eased its App Store guidelines that now allow retro game emulators to be published on the App Store for its iOS and tvOS platforms, we are seeing new emulators popping up on the App Store now and then. Recently, the Delta emulator was officially launched on the App Store, and the developers of the multi-platform emulator have confirmed their foray into the App Store soon.
In an email to iMore, Provenance"s project lead, Joseph Mattiello, said that his team is working on a release. He further stated, "I need to investigate these new rules before an App Store submission and to improve some quality-of-life issues. Also, I need to change some things to adhere to the App Store’s rules, such as mentioning “beta”."
While the Delta emulator limits users to play games from the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo 64, Game Boy (Color), Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS, the thing with Provenance is a bit different.
For the unaware, Provenance is a multi-platform game emulator that can emulate games from popular consoles such as the NES, SNES, Game Boy, Nintendo 64, and Nintendo DS, and even Atari, Sega, and PlayStation games. The team also confirmed that they are working on support for SEGA Dreamcast, Sony PlayStation 2, and others.
However, one important thing to note is that it is considered a breach of copyright law if you download SEGA, Sony, and Nintendo game titles, even if you own them, especially for Nintendo games. So, to use games from these platforms on Provenance, you need to look for free and independently developed games available online.
Mattiello and his team have been working on Provenance since 2016, and the emulator is already available through the AltStore and other side-loading methods, but it requires users to use an Apple developer account, which isn"t an option, a normal user would resort to just for installing an app.
There is no clarity on when the Provenance emulator will debut on the App Store, as Mattiello wasn"t clear on a launch date for the emulator on the App Store.