Konami has officially confirmed that its Apple Arcade‑only title, Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls, will be taken offline next month. The game will first disappear from the Apple Arcade catalog on August 20, and a little over two weeks later, on September 3, the servers that keep the game operational will be shut down, rendering it unplayable for anyone who tries to launch it after that date. In a statement posted on the company's website, Konami reflected on the game's lifespan and the decision to end its service.
"Since its launch on Apple Arcade in September 2021, the game has continued to be supported by many players," the statement read. "However, we have decided to terminate the service [in September]." The company went on to thank its community, saying, "We would like to express our gratitude to all of our players for their enthusiastic support throughout the years.
The entire development and operations team sincerely thanks you for being part of this journey." To understand why this shutdown matters, it helps to look back at the title's history. Grimoire of Souls first appeared in September 2019 as a free‑to‑play mobile experience available on iOS and Android, but only in the Canadian market. The original version relied on in‑game currency and microtransactions, a common model for mobile games at the time. After roughly a year, Konami pulled the title from the stores, citing a strategic shift.
The game was later resurrected in a very different form. In September 2021, Konami re‑released Grimoire of Souls as an exclusive for Apple Arcade, making it available not only on iPhone but also on iPad, Apple TV, and Mac.
This re‑launch stripped out all forms of microtransactions and in‑game purchases, aligning the title with Apple Arcade's subscription‑based, ad‑free philosophy. The developers also took the opportunity to overhaul the user interface, improve the visual fidelity, and polish the overall performance to better suit the larger screens and more powerful hardware of Apple devices. Even with those improvements, the game’s lifespan on Apple Arcade was relatively short.
After roughly two years of being part of the subscription service, Konami decided to pull the plug. The decision comes amid a broader trend in the industry where several online‑dependent titles are being retired as their player bases shrink or as maintaining server infrastructure becomes less economically viable. Grimoire of Souls is not alone in this wave of closures. Other notable games are slated for similar fates in the coming months.
Nintendo’s Mario Kart Tour, another mobile title that has been running for several years, is set to shut down in September. Following that, Warner Bros.’ Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem will cease operations in October, and Sony’s Destruction AllStars, which launched on the PlayStation Store as a free‑to‑play title, will be taken offline in November. The impact of these shutdowns varies for different players. For those who have invested time—if not money—into building characters, completing challenges, or simply enjoying the narrative, the loss can feel abrupt.
However, because Grimoire of Souls no longer contains any purchasable content, the financial impact on players is minimal. The primary loss is the ability to revisit the Castlevania universe in this particular format, which combined classic gothic aesthetics with a card‑based combat system.
For developers and publishers, ending a service like this frees up resources that can be redirected toward new projects or updates for existing, more popular titles. It also reduces ongoing server costs, which can be significant for games that rely on real‑time matchmaking, leaderboards, and cloud‑based progression. Fans of the Castlevania franchise may wonder whether Konami plans to bring a similar experience back in the future, perhaps on a different platform or with a new business model. While no official word has been given, the company's history of revisiting its classic IPs—such as the recent releases of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on modern consoles—suggests that the brand will continue to evolve, even if specific titles like Grimoire of Souls reach their endpoint.
In summary, Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls will be removed from Apple Arcade on August 20, 2024, and its online services will be completely terminated on September 3, 2024. After that date, the game will no longer be accessible to players. Konami has expressed appreciation for the community that supported the title throughout its run, and the shutdown aligns with a broader pattern of online games being retired as part of normal lifecycle management within the industry.