Over 2,500 games removed from Apple’s China App Store after loophole shuts: Data firm

More than 2,500 mobile games were removed from Apple’s China app store in the first week of July, four times as many in the same period in June, after Apple closed a loophole to comply with Chinese license requirements, data from SensorTower showed.

Apple had given publishers of revenue-generating games a deadline of end-June to submit a government-issued licence number that allows them to make in-app purchases, a requirement that Android-based app stores in China have long had. It was not clear why Apple had allowed the loophole to exist for so long.

Notable games removed from China’s App Store in July so far include Supercell’s farming hit “Hay Day”, “Nonstop Chuck Norris” from Flaregames and “Solitaire” from Zynga, according to SensorTower.