Apple has announced that retro game emulators can now run on the App Store globally and offer downloadable games for users, with one key caveat: all these games must fall in line with, “all applicable laws.” That means the tech company is still likely to take down emulators that run pirated games.
Apple will let you download game emulators from the App Store
A new update to the Apple App Store’s submission policies page for developers has revealed that game emulators are now allowed on the app store. This is a big change for a company that has historically banned apps from running external code on its devices, and it didn’t happen out of nowhere. An antitrust lawsuit filed by the United States accused the company of keeping cloud game streaming apps and super apps from its platform, and another case presented by the European Commission alleged that Apple was banning apps like Spotify from informing users of cheaper and alternative subscription services outside of the app.
Essentially: Apple is trying to keep all user payments in-house on the App Store, so it can take a cut of the profits. Now that antitrust lawsuits and fines are pouring in, the company is starting to loosen its grip. Apple will now allow developers to introduce apps with, “software that is not embedded in the binary,” along with, “retro game console emulator apps,” which can, “offer to download games.”
What this means is that you can now download game emulators from the App Store, as soon as developers start to put them up. Emulators are typically used by people looking to play older console games that might not have a home on modern devices anymore. This is usually done by pirating these games’ ROM files and running them on an emulator. The way Apple sees it, the emulators themselves are completely fine - but the ROM files will be a problem.
It’s likely that the company is going to have to clean house when pirated game emulators start to pop up on the App Store, especially when companies like Nintendo are quick to add when copyright issues pop up. Some game publishers tend to house their older titles on emulators for people to play on mobile or newer-gen platforms, in the form of retro game collections. This is likely the route many will take in adapting to the App Store’s new ruleset.
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