Nine mobile ports of classic Sega games are being delisted from the Google Play Store and iOS App Store, leaving fans with a limited window to claim them for free. Sega has yet to communicate the exact dates and times of the upcoming delistings.
Back in 2017, the Japanese gaming giant launched an initiative called Sega Forever, which saw it port a variety of its classic titles to mobile devices. The general idea behind the program was to offer classic Sega games with a lot of name recognition free of charge, supported by in-app advertising.
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While Sega Forever is still going strong today, eight years following its debut, some of its titles are now set to be delisted from their mobile storefronts. As first noted by Lifehacker, Sega recently started sending in-app notifications confirming upcoming delistings of nine games, including Crazy Taxi Classic, Golden Axe Classics, and Shining Force Classics. Sonic CD Classic and Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 are also part of the upcoming wave of departures, together with Super Monkey Ball: Sakura Edition and Virtua Tennis Challenge. The delistings will also include the first two entries in Sega’s genre-defining Streets of Rage series of beat-em-ups.
Free ‘Sega Forever’ Mobile Games That Are Being Delisted Soon
- Crazy Taxi Classic
- Golden Axe Classics
- Shining Force Classics
- Sonic CD Classic
- Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2
- Streets of Rage Classic
- Streets of Rage 2 Classic
- Super Monkey Ball: Sakura Ed.
- Virtua Tennis Challenge
No specific delisting dates or times have yet been provided by the company. Based on Sega’s track record, it’s possible not all of these soon-to-be-departing games will be pulled from mobile storefronts at the exact same time. However, since their notices of departure have materialized simultaneously, that isn’t out of the question.
In the meantime, fans are still free to claim these Sega mobile games on both the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. Adding them to one’s account now will ensure they remain accessible even after they are delisted.
It’s unclear whether the ads in these games will continue to work following their delisting. While there’s nothing technically stopping Sega from continuing to serve ads for delisted games, the publisher may opt to stop monetizing titles that are no longer part of its active content portfolio. Sega delistings of this sort happen on an occasion, but they aren’t particularly common on mobile devices. Some of the soon-to-be-removed titles continue to enjoy sizable player bases to this day, as is the case with Virtua Tennis Challenge, which is still ranked as the 104th most popular “Sports” title on the iOS App Store as of June 24.
- Date Founded
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June 3, 1960
- Headquarters
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Shinagawa City, Tokyo, Japan
- CEO
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Hajime Satomi