Apple just took down a total of 46,000 unlicensed apps from
its store, 39,000 out of which were game apps owned by Chinese authorities.
Ubisoft title Assassin's Creed Identity and NBA 2K20 are two of the popular apps among the ones Apple has removed. Moreover, only 74 of the top 1,500 paid games on the Apple store have survived the sweep.
The action took place as Apple had given a deadline to game
publishers to submit a license number issued by the government to allow users
to make in-app purchases. The deadline was initially set for end of June and
was later extended to the 31st of December.
Apple’s action against the Chinese apps seems a little too
strict as China's Android app stores have almost always complied with Apple’s
regulations on licenses.
According to analysts, the move would not directly affect
Apple's bottom line the way previous removals have, and it seems like the
company is just trying to close loopholes to fall in line with China's content
regulators.
