Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls set to close service in autumn

• Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls is set to shut down service this autumn
• The game was previously cancelled but survived by making the jump to Apple Arcade
• It was a side-scrolling adventure game in the vein of the mainline Castlevania series

Well, it's about that time again. Yes, sadly we have to report that another fan-favourite mobile game is set to shut its doors. This time, the victim is none other than Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls. And unfortunately, you don't have long to jump in and have a go, because end-of-service is set for September 3rd.

A side-scrolling platformer in the vein of the classic Castlevania games, especially Symphony of the Night, Grimoire of Souls already has an interesting history. Slated to shutter back in 2020, Grimoire of Souls would instead make its way exclusively to Apple Arcade without any monetisation elements.

Gotta' have soul

Unfortunately, while the Apple Arcade version was surely warmly received by those of you wanting a new side-scrolling Castlevania experience on mobile, that still doesn't make it immune to all the usual issues. As of tomorrow, August 20th, the game will no longer be available to download on Apple Arcade, and service will end (as previously mentioned) on September 3rd.

It's likely to be hugely disappointing for many Apple Arcade fans, not only because this is a high-profile loss from their catalogue, but also because the service has been the only place that Grimoire of Souls has been playable.

For my money, it really points to one of the key issues that we've been facing with mobile for so many years, as when a game ends service, there's really no way to play it. Unless there's an offline version, but for Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls that seems a remote probability at best.

Fortunately, where major names like Konami are lacking, many big indies are instead picking up the slack. If you want to see some of the top new releases that could end up being your latest favourite, be sure to check out our list of the best upcoming indie mobile games we saw at Pocket Gamer Connects Summit Shanghai!