Nine mobile ports of classicSegagames are being delisted from the Google Play Store and iOS App Store, leaving fans with a limited window to claim them for free.Segahas yet to communicate the exact dates and times of the upcoming delistings.
Back in 2017, the Japanese gaming giant launched an initiative called Sega Forever, which saw it port a variety of its classic titles to mobile devices. The general idea behind the program was to offerclassic Sega gameswith a lot of name recognition free of charge, supported by in-app advertising.
While Sega Forever is still going strong today, eight years following its debut, some of its titles are now set to be delisted from their mobile storefronts. As first noted byLifehacker, Sega recently started sending in-app notifications confirming upcoming delistings of nine games, includingCrazy Taxi Classic,Golden Axe Classics, andShining Force Classics.Sonic CD ClassicandSonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2are also part of the upcoming wave of departures, together withSuper Monkey Ball: Sakura EditionandVirtua Tennis Challenge. The delistings will also include the first two entries inSega’s genre-definingStreets of Rageseriesof beat-em-ups.
No specific delisting dates or times have yet been provided by the company. Based on Sega’s track record, it’s possible not all of these soon-to-be-departing games will be pulled from mobile storefronts at the exact same time. However, since their notices of departure have materialized simultaneously, that isn’t out of the question.
In the meantime, fans are still free to claim theseSega mobile gameson both the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. Adding them to one’s account now will ensure they remain accessible even after they are delisted.
It’s unclear whether the ads in these games will continue to work following their delisting. While there’s nothing technically stopping Sega from continuing to serve ads for delisted games, the publisher may opt to stop monetizing titles that are no longer part of its active content portfolio.Sega delistings of this sorthappen on an occasion, but they aren’t particularly common on mobile devices. Some of the soon-to-be-removed titles continue to enjoy sizable player bases to this day, as is the case withVirtua Tennis Challenge, which is still ranked as the 104th most popular “Sports” title on the iOS App Store as of June 24.
