Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

20,000 iOS games could be removed in China, report says

An AppInChina report says a third of China’s paid games on the iOS App Store won’t have a license before a key deadline

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

Apple’s new rules for game developers in China could see tens of thousands of games removed from the iOS App Store, according to a new report.

Apple recently started requiring game developers to submit game licenses for titles in the App Store in China, where games have to be approved by a state authority. With the June 30 deadline only three months away, app intelligence firm AppInChina expects more than one third of paid games to be removed.

Citing government data, AppInChina said that China has issued a total of 43,104 game licenses. Even if all of these licenses were issued to mobile games, that would leave more than 21,500 App Store titles without a license, as data compiled by Qimai Data shows that there were 64,667 paid games on the App Store in China as of March 6.

While Chinese iOS users could lose access to thousands of games, the biggest titles like local versions of Tencent hits Arena of Valor and PUBG Mobile are already covered.

“Most of those high-grossing games already have a game license, so are unlikely to be affected by this change,” AppInChina CEO Rich Bishop told us.

Bishop said the gaming industry is top-heavy, meaning that a large share of the revenue is being generated by a relatively small number of blockbuster games. But he stressed that the license check could be a death sentence for certain medium- and small-scale mobile games, many of which generate revenue in China without a local partner.

Mobile games in China have technically required a license since 2016, which has been enforced by China’s various Android app stores since the law was passed. Apple seems to have been able to avoid strictly enforcing the rule until last month. At the end of February, Apple told developers of paid games or those using in-app purchases that they must submit their licenses by the end of June to remain in the Chinese App Store.

AppInChina expects the change to be a blow to revenue for both game developers and Apple, even though the most lucrative games will remain. Apple takes a 30 per cent cut of all app sales and in-app purchases on iOS. And according to data by App Annie, gross revenue from the Chinese iOS App Store reached US$8.8 billion in 2019.

Apple declined to comment for this story.

Apple’s new rules mean that indie games like the viral hit Plague, Inc. won’t be able to sell directly to consumers in China if they can’t get a license. Plague, Inc. recently saw a surge in popularity in China because of the coronavirus epidemic, briefly becoming the top paid app in China’s App Store. The game was later pulled from the App Store in China and then from Steam because it contained “content illegal in China”.

Even if small game developers are willing to share revenue with a local partner, though, it will still be difficult to secure a license by June, Bishop said. China has recently been limiting the number of game licenses it grants, going as far as freezing licenses for nine months in 2018.

“It takes four to eight months to get a game license, and [the government] issued a total of just 1,572 game licenses in 2019,” Bishop said. “This means that the vast majority of the 21,563 paid games or games with in-app purchases on the Apple App Store [in] China won’t be able to get a game license for several years, let alone by June 30th, 2020.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×