Apple Inc. on Thursday removed 39,000 gaming applications from the Apple China Store, rushing to the last day of the year to remove apps that had not been licensed by the Chinese government by the end of the year.
According to research firm Seven Wheat, Apple’s China store removed a total of 46,000 apps that day. Of the top 1,500 paid games in the store, only 74 survived.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Apple this month asked developers of paid games and games with in-application content to submit evidence that they had obtained government permission by the end of the year, and that most developers may not be able to obtain permission.
In 2016, Beijing authorities began requiring game programs to obtain permission before they could be released, but developers were once able to circumvent the requirement. Apple did not explain why the loophole previously existed or why they began closing it this year.
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