- Harry Potter: Magic Awakened Closes Its Doors
- The combat card deckbuilder will go offline in all territories except Asia
- A publishing deal with NetEase looks to keep it afloat
Deckbuilding card game Harry Potter: Magic Awakened is set to shut down in the Americas, Europe, and Oceania. However, it will remain available in China and much of the East, apparently thanks to an ongoing publishing deal with NetEase. In-app purchases have already been shut down, and servers will shut down on October 29th of this year, and the game has already been removed from all storefronts.
Magic Awakened came out in 2023, however, it has now joined an unfortunate string of games that have faced the axe this year. It certainly raises a lot of questions about the popularity of HP's enduring franchise and NetEase's strength in keeping things going for as long as they've arranged.
However, it will be a bit of a disappointment for many players, especially considering that other games like Brave Nine have at least managed to make arrangements to allow players to continue enjoying the game offline. I guess magic isn't there to facilitate that when it comes to Magic Awakened.
And beyond
And before you ask, no, you can’t just move to another server. The downsides of live service gaming, huh? It’s a little strange to think that I grew up watching the transition from mobile gaming, where the idea of a constant internet connection was a pipe dream, to it becoming the norm, with all the pitfalls that entails. On the other hand, competition is more prevalent than ever.
However, there are bound to be plenty of games out there that will be available long after the servers shut down. You can find some of them in our huge list of the best mobile games of 2024 (so far)!
Better yet, especially for budget-conscious gamers, why not check out our list of the 25 best free mobile games for iOS and Android?