Konami will terminate service for Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls on Sept. 3, 2026, after which the Apple Arcade exclusive will not be playable. The game is being removed from Apple Arcade on Aug. 20, so anyone who downloads it before that date has roughly two weeks of play left before the servers are switched off. Konami announced the closure on the game's official website and on social media, Polygon and GameSpot reported.
Since its launch on Apple Arcade in September 2021, the game has continued to be supported by many players. However, we have decided to terminate the service on September 3, 2026.
The publisher gave no reason for the decision. "We would like to express our gratitude to all of our players for their enthusiastic support throughout the years," it added. "The entire development and operations team sincerely thanks you for being part of this journey."
A game that has already shut down once
Grimoire of Souls first launched in September 2019 as a free-to-play title for iOS and Android in Canada. It was discontinued a year later, then relaunched through Apple Arcade on iOS, tvOS, iPadOS and Mac in September 2021, with in-game currency and microtransactions removed, layouts revised and graphics improved. At its original release it was the first new Castlevania game since 2014's Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, and its story was concluded in a 2022 update that added revelations tied to Dracula's defeat in 1990's Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse.
What is being lost
The game is built around evil escaping from books chronicling the history of Dracula and his castle, with players exploring those books in small levels that introduce characters from across the series. It otherwise plays much like a traditional 2D Castlevania, with cooperative and multiplayer modes added, character designs by longtime franchise artist Ayami Kojima and music by Michiru Yamane. Alucard and Simon Belmont are among the playable characters. As an Apple Arcade title it carries no in-app purchases.
Konami has not said whether Grimoire of Souls will reappear on other platforms, and its removal from Apple Arcade leaves that question open. The publisher's next series entry, Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, comes from the studio behind Dead Cells and The Rogue Prince of Persia and will be a Castlevania in the classic style, according to Konami.
Grimoire of Souls is one of several games scheduled to go offline in the coming months, alongside Mario Kart Tour in September, Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem in October and Destruction AllStars in November.
