Konami’s Castlevania relaunch will be delisted and removed before the popular side-scroller gets the chance to escape Apple Arcade jail
Not even vampires and their respective hunters are immune to industry headwinds. Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls is being delisted from Apple Arcade in a matter of days, followed by a complete shut down of the game's servers, rendering it totally inaccessible.
"Thank you for playing Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls," reads Konami's announcement. "Since its launch on Apple Arcade in September 2021, the game has continued to be supported by many players. However, we have decided to terminate the service on September 3, 2026."
Two weeks prior, on August 20, the mobile installment in Capcom's long-running horror adventure series will be removed from Apple Arcade. That gives you just three days from time of writing to download it for yourself if you haven't already.
From then on, you have 14 days to enjoy the action-RPG before it's gone for good. The game is essentially a live-service take on Symphony of the Night, with progression systems and a labyrinthine map to explore. There are co-op and PvP elements too, making it quite well-rounded for a mobile release.
Originally it was on Android and other platforms, before becoming an Apple Arcade exclusive in 2021. Now, five years later, it's being closed for unspecified reasons. "We would like to express our gratitude to all of our players for their enthusiastic support throughout the years," Apple's statement reads. "The entire development and operations team sincerely thanks you for being part of this journey."
Once the servers are turned off, Grimoire of Souls will be completely unplayable. Given how it looks and plays like one of the single-player installments, it seems like an incredible waste not to preserve it in some shape or form, regardless of what modes or features need to be turned off or removed.
But such is the lay of the land. Not that Castlevania fans have come to expect much different over the years, the franchise has long been underserved. At least there's finally a new game coming in October, in the form of Castlevania: Belmont's Curse.