After the 32-bit purge, GameClub raises $ 2.5 million to bring back classic iOS games

The passage of Apple's 2017 from a basic 32-bit code to a 64-bit code base for iOS has closed the door to countless games and applications designed during the debut of the platform. Now, a start-up called GameClub has mobilized 2.5 million dollars of investments to solve this problem. She collaborated with the original developers to update premium mobile phone games for new devices.

Games originally encoded for older 32-bit iOS devices can be recompiled for newer versions of the operating system. But this requires access to the original source code, often owned by companies that have neither the interest nor the ability to try to find a new market for an old "dead" game.

"There is a surprising amount of detective work involved in identifying the rights holder and source code," GameClub CEO Dan Sherman recently told VentureBeat. publisher who is now missing or endangered, as the original owners embark on other projects, occupy jobs or leave the industry completely. In some situations, games were effectively forgotten or rights might disappear into a legal abyss, leaving them one step further for the source code to be lost forever. "

Updating an old game for new devices often means also fighting with outdated SDKs and juggling new screen size options on newer iOS devices. "Just remaking a game involves creating and documenting many fixes, many of which are shared with other games that we update and use the same underlying engines," Sherman told VentureBeat. "Then we set up an automated build process for each game so that we can keep them up to date with upcoming changes and platform requirements."

Currently, interested parties can register to benefit from quick access to GameClub's efforts via Apple's limited "TestFlight" access service. But GameClub is currently working on 50 games that it plans to publish directly on the App Store later in 2019.

These titles will all be available for single payments and "no intrusive ads or microtransactions," the company said in a statement. This decision reflects what GameClub calls "growing fatigue in the mobile gaming market – consumers are fed up with free predatory microtransactions and incessant ads that are not only boring, but often inappropriate for kids."

The nine iOS games publicly announced by GameClub are:

• Super cash register (Vlambeer) (an Ars favorite)
• Crochet Champion (RocketCat Games)
• Hackycat (Ken Wong)
• Sealing ball (Greg Wohlwend and Michael Boxleiter)
• Legendary Wars (Games of liv)
• Incoboto (Fluttermind)
• Sword of Fargoal (Jeff McCord and Paul Pridham)
• Minor of space (Venan Entertainment)
• Chopper 2 (Jungle Majic)