The COVID-19 epidemic has some surprising impacts on people’s media consumption. The enthusiasm in games, series, and films on global disease outbreaks has risen sharply since 2010 when many people were reluctant to watch or play media portraying such epidemics.
Plague Inc. & Pandemic, a cooperative board game, were among the popular mobile apps listed in this category.
This is why it may come as a shock to some that the digital version of Pandemic has vanished from internet retailers. Asmodee Digital, the game’s creator, confirmed the withdrawal of the title after Reddit users noticed its disappearance from Steam as well as the App Store earlier this morning.
Bad boy barry, a Reddit user, seems to have been the first to raise issues about Pandemic’s withdrawal from Steam, Google Play. and the App Store. They contacted customer service at the developer and were informed in writing that the game had been permanently removed from all three platforms.
Additional plans have been made to remove the title from Xbox Live on July 31 and from Nintendo’s Switch “by the end of July.” So, it seems that Pandemic is no longer available for purchase on any platform. The Xbox One and PC versions are presently free to Game Pass members.
Pandemic has been definitely removed from Steam, App Store & Google Play from boardgames
To be clear, anyone who has already paid for Pandemic may still join in the game. If you haven’t already, you may still get it from your Steam, App Store as well as Google Play collections according to Asmodee’s email. Pandemic will no longer get any updates as a result of its termination.
For Android and ios devices, this is a major issue, since future OS upgrades are likely to make it inoperable.
Why did Asmodee remove a popular board game from online stores is an obvious question. Regretfully, the email provided by the firm is of little use in this area.
As per the seemingly automated response- “This decision was made with a heavy heart for a multitude of reasons that we cannot disclose.” The studio’s enigmatic statement prompted discussion regarding what these motives may be.
Why did Asmodee pull the plug on Pandemic?
Asmodee may be attempting to express their concern for the COVID-19 epidemic by responding in this fashion. Pandemic Legacy was postponed by board games company Z-Man Games for the very same reason.
Physical copies of the title and its several spinoffs are, however, still available to players. This also raises the issue of why Asmodee hasn’t pulled the digital edition of Pandemic in the previous two years, assuming this is the case at all.
Perhaps Asmodee plans to replace it with a Catan Universe-style game of the same name. A single app would be created for Pandemic, as well as any future expansions or spinoffs, such as Legacy, Hot Zone, and the upcoming Fall of Rome expansion. It’s possible, though, that Asmodee Digital hasn’t announced a project of this kind.
