The App Store had evolved considerably over the years, but one of the most distinct divisions of time in the early days of the App Store was the release of Epic’s Infinity Blade. Our review, published almost exactly eight years ago today, does a great job of illustrating just how monumental the release of this game was. Over the next few years we’d see a sequel, and then Infinity Blade III would join the mix, turning the series into a trilogy. As of today, all three games are no longer available for purchase on the App Store. If you already own them, you can re-download them, but all the IAP has been disabled and the games should be accessible for the “foreseeable future." The reason for their removal, according to Epic is, “it has become increasingly difficult for our team to support the Infinity Blade series at a level that meets our standards."

This is one of those stories I never thought I would have to write, and in a way, writing this article feels a lot like when I tried to sit down and write my father’s obituary as I’m just completely beside myself. The Infinity Blade series is an absolute App Store staple, and something we’ve included in basically every “Best games for your new _______" article we write, like this one for the iPhone X S and the iPhone X S Max. The Infinity Blade series were bonafide Real Games that even the harshest critics of mobile gaming could admit were, at minimum, pretty good. There’s even actual, real deal books that have been written that expand the universe of the game- Something I’m not sure can be said for many, if any other mobile games.

Premium games eventually losing the support of their developers then slowly falling into obscurity before being removed from the App Store isn’t really a new phenomenon, but for it to happen to Infinity Blade seems … like an incredibly terrible signal for the overall health of the App Store. The Infinity Blade games were not only timeless effortless recommendations for anyone looking for good games, but I’d argue they’re also incredibly historically important for the platform. For them to just vanish like this feels unbelievable. I just … don’t even know what to think anymore. Epic is on top of the world right now, and it being “increasingly difficult" to support likely has everything to do with the dismal state of premium games on the App Store in 2018 and it just not being worth Epic’s while to continue supporting the Infinity Blade trilogy.

Just let that sink in for a minute. The game company that has the biggest hit in the world, and is raking in so much cash that they’re even opening their own online game distribution platform for developers with absurdly generous terms can’t make sense out of continuing to maintain their mobile games. Their mobile games which have been extensively featured by Apple at every possible opportunity and were effectively platform-defining when they were released are now … increasingly difficult to support.

What in the hell.

For real, what the hell.

How is this happening?