Following its successful launch Apple has kept the momentum going by adding new games to Apple Arcade, its premium subscription service that gives users access to more than 100 games on their Apple devices. Apple Arcade gives users the ability to play over 100 games on their iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV by paying $4.99 a month.
Once you get Apple Arcade subscription you can download any of the premium games available under App Store’s Arcade section without paying extra. We tried the Apple Arcade subscription and were blown away by the quality of games that are available to its users.
However one wonders what happens to downloaded Apple Arcade games once you stop paying $4.99 a month for its subscription. Are Apple Arcade games removed from your device once you cancel Apple Arcade subscription? Or can you continue to play these games until you delete them from your device manually. Well we are here to answer all of your questions.
If you’re wondering what happens after Apple Arcade subscription expires, then find out if you can play Apple Arcade games after subscription expiry here…
Can You Play Apple Arcade Games After Subscription has expired?
Update 15th February 2023: In iOS 16or later Apple has stopped users from playing Apple Arcade games after their subscription expires. Now in 2023 when you try to launch an Apple Arcade game, you get an error that asks you to resubscribe to Apple Arcade.
Based on our testing we can confirm that once your Apple Arcade subscription ends you can continue to play all of the downloaded games as you could during the subscription period. The games will continue to work normally and you will be able to enjoy them without any problems.
However after Apple Arcade subscription expires you can no longer download new Apple Arcade games from the App Store until you renew the subscription. The games you had previously downloaded on your device will also become unavailable and you will no longer be able to Install them from the App Store. The only Apple Arcade games that will work after subscription has expired are the ones that are already installed on your iPhone or iPad.
Apple does not remove the downloaded Apple Arcade games and lets you enjoy your downloaded games without blocking them. The games will only become unavailable after you delete them from your device, as you will no longer be able to re-download them without a working Apple Arcade subscription.
Before Apple Arcade Subscription expires…
If you want to take maximum advantage of your Apple Arcade subscription beyond its expiry date, then we recommend that you download as many games as you like before your subscription is scheduled to end. Any games that you download within the subscription period will be available to you to play until you manually delete them from your device. So if you have an active subscription right now find any game that interests you and download it right now, so you can keep playing after the subscription period ends.
If you run out of storage and offload an app, you can still re-download it on your device provided it was only offloaded and not deleted. Offloaded apps display a cloud icon next to their icon label. To re-download offloaded apps simply tap on their icon.
