Wheels of Aurelia developer Santa Ragione has confirmed the game is set to be delisted on the Apple App Store, alleging Apple provided no ‘clear justification’ for its removal, only citing its policy to remove ‘obsolete’ or ‘outdated’ games.
As noted by Santa Ragione, it appears the game has been flagged by Apple’s newly-implemented store policy of removing games which have not been updated within a three-year period, or been downloaded enough within a 12-month window. This policy was introduced in 2022, as part of an ‘App Store Improvements process’ to remove outdated or insecure apps which could not ‘support [Apple’s] latest innovations in security and privacy.’
Developers are able to appeal decisions made by this blanket policy, although Santa Ragione has reported its own attempts to keep Wheels of Aurelia on the Apple App Store have failed. That’s despite the game being feature-complete and fully functional in its current form.
In a statement, the studio has criticised this process, and claimed Apple is undermining developers by pursuing a policy of erasing older, less popular titles from the App Store. It has said smaller developers simply don’t have the resources to maintain older games like Wheels of Aurelia in satisfying fashion, with Apple’s requirements creating a time burden which can’t be meaningfully addressed.
‘We firmly believe that removing fully functional artistic works simply due to infrequent updates undermines the value and sustainability of games as cultural and artistic products,’ Santa Ragione said. ‘Like books, films, and music albums, video games represent complete creative works that do not inherently require continual updates beyond maintaining basic functionality.’
Wheels of Aurelia – Gameplay Trailer
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‘For smaller developers, enforced and unnecessary updates impose significant financial burdens, negatively impacting their ability to sustain existing projects and to pursue new creative endeavours.’
Santa Ragione has also highlighted that Apple maintains an ‘dominant position’ in digital distribution, with their policy setting the tone for the market. The studio has highlighted a need for diversity of market platforms in that regard, to prevent what it calls ‘monopolistic behaviours’ which can prevent fairness in the digital marketplace.
Per Santa Ragione, Wheels of Aurelia‘s fate is now locked in, and the game will be removed from the Apple App Store on 25 July 2025. Ahead of its removal, the studio has made the game free to download, ensuring anyone who wants to experience it on iOS devices is able to do so, before it’s delisted entirely.
‘We thank our community and supporters for their ongoing encouragement,’ Santa Ragione said.
You can now claim Wheels of Aurelia on the Apple App Store. It will remain in your library, and downloadable, even after its planned delisting. For now, it’s unclear what happens next, and whether Santa Ragione’s public plea will forge a new future for the game.
Also on ScreenHub: Steam’s Generative AI disclosure use is reportedly up 800% in 2025
Developers submitting games to Steam are increasingly disclosing Generative AI use in their creation, with this reportedly up 800% in 2025, compared to the same period in 2024. The analysis arrives courtesy of Totally Human via Steam’s API, and raises plenty of questions about how game development is changing, and whether GenAI use is becoming normalised amongst developers and their audiences.
Per Totally Human, not only is GenAI use on the rise, ‘a little under 20% of all games released in 2025′ have disclosed use of the technology. In 2024, just 1,000 games disclosed use of GenAI in their creation process. Now, there are reportedly 7,818 titles on Steam that disclose GenAI use, accounting for a whopping 7% of the total Steam library.
