TouchArcade Is Shutting Down

One of the last bastions of good games journalism, and the only good mobile gaming site. Another casualty of the garbage listicles and AI generated garbage that fills up search results. I would do anything to have the old, fun, internet back. This monstrosity we have now just isn't doing it for me.

Now that is a name I haven't heard in a long time. I almost struggle to remember where I heard them from, but I distinctly remember reading this site trying to find the next great game for my first-gen iPod Touch. I can't say I've ever followed it closely, but there's a certain sadness bound to happen when a childhood site goes down.

I'll poor one out for TouchArcade (and Joystiq. and Rooster Teeth. Just checked, and gonintendo is still kicking!)

It's amazing to me that a website that publishes articles (real articles, not AI slop) about games can't even support the livelihood of 3 people, and yet mobile game companies shovel out godawful games and continue to exist. It blew my mind when I saw how there were several games which were some combination of match-3 + PvP (so that you can whale your way to victory).

It’s a shame for sure, as I’ve occasionally used sites like TA as a consumer. But it’s also not anything I’d ever actually pay for. If these kinds of sites go away then I’ll just go on living without them. They’re nice to have, but they’re not necessary by any stretch. Life will go on, with or without video game journalism.

As a mobile game dev, this is a bummer. I have been fortunate to get review and preview coverage on a few of my games from TA. There aren't many sites doing what that do. I get that the market has moved and now discovery happens in the App Store and via advertisement dollars, but growing up reading EGM or IGN.com and seeing people excited about a game just from a few screenshots colored me for life. I'm sad mobile game players don't have that opportunity.

Really too bad, but I’m not surprised. I know losing affiliate money many years ago hurt bad.

But the truth is I don’t care much anymore. I loved TA because they helped me find fun games. And while I’ve found a few from them in the last few years like Peglin most of their coverage is unsurprisingly what most of the industry makes: pay to win with smurfberries advertising laden crap.

I strongly believe the iOS gaming scene died the day IAPs came out.

There is the incredibly rare indie game that you can pay for now, and Apple Arcade. While I enjoy that most of the good games I’ve played before (a plus on the name = existed before). Those that I haven’t played or are new often were obviously designed for IAPs and aren’t that fun when they’re removed.

And I know devs seem to hate it, and I’m not surprised. But it’s the only option I’ve got left.

I’ll miss you, Touch Arcade. You long outlasted the era of greatness for the platform you covered. Thanks for making it as long as you did. One more sign we can’t have nice things because ruthless unnecessarily exploitive capitalism.

Why haven’t AAA games on mobile devices been a huge success? Millions of people love their Nintendo Switches, but they’re toasters compared to modern Android and especially iOS devices. With a cheap controller attachment you could provide a much better experience with these devices most people already own. I expected basically every AAA Switch port to come to iOS as well, but they haven’t.

Hi, I made a website called [AppRaven](https://appraven.net) which has a dedicated iOS game reviews section, you might want to give it a try :) (I know very well it’s not a replacement, but for those seeking great game recommendations and reviews, welcome!)

Them featuring my game in a front page article was a big moment for me(and helped it become a viral hit). Best of luck guys.

Darn, I remember checking this website everyday for new games when I had the 1st generation iPod Touch.

Shame!

Fwiw nowadays MiniReview is a very good source of games: https://minireview.io

End of an era. TouchArcade was one of the better review sites and it was great to get featured there. Going for 16 years was a really good run. I hope the people involved land in good places. Game marketing has changed so much during that time. I do wish affiliate programs for games never went away as it was an entire economy and another way others would help get sales.

I remember when Apple killed the Touch Arcade app because apparently apps that include reviews of other apps are verboten. I am sure that sucked for them but in retrospect was probably good for me because it weaned me off finding and playing games on my phone.

Too bad. I wish STEAM would open up listings to mobile games, even if unsold by steam just so mobile gets STEAM curators treatment. Hell they should break into the mobile emulator game, but I guess driving people mobile would hurt their bottomline.

This is sad, TouchArcade reviewed my very first game on iOS back in the iPhone 4 days. A lot of places ignored my game but TouchArcade gave my game a fair chance and I will forever appreciate them for that.

Thanks to the TA team and here’s hoping the best for them.

I'm wondering how many sites are being affected due to AI, I've noticed myself using Google less

This is a highly visible manifestation of something that has been going on for years. I have been around mobile games for 20 years (going back to J2ME) and have never seen interest in the field so low.

Essentially the noise is that people are locked into habits in the app stores. It takes huge amounts of money to get people to try something new, and this invariably leads to amazing conservatism on the part of publishers. The big breakout hit last year was a Monopoly spin off, admittedly well executed, but with absolutely massive marketing pushes.

Steam is squeezing on one side and web games on the other. When the mobile herd simply moves where the marketing dollars lead them who needs reviews?

Feels like the race to the bottom is nearing the finish line