Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls to Shut Down in September

Konami is pulling Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls from Apple Arcade on August 20, 2026, with the game becoming permanently unplayable on September 3, 2026 (GameSpot). The publisher posted an official end-of-service notice dated August 16, 2026 (PDT) on the game's website (Konami).

No specific reason was given for the shutdown. Konami did say the game has "continued to be supported by many players" and thanked fans for their time with it (GameSpot).

Grimoire of Souls is a side-scrolling action game — the classic Castlevania format of moving through stages and fighting enemies in two dimensions — featuring multiplayer co-op for up to four players. Playable characters include series favourites Alucard and Simon Belmont, with character designs by longtime franchise artist Ayami Kojima and music from Michiru Yamane, both closely associated with the franchise's most beloved entries (GameSpot; Konami).

The game has had a complicated life. It first launched in 2019 as a free-to-play mobile title with microtransactions, then was pulled from mobile storefronts and re-released as an Apple Arcade exclusive on September 17, 2021 — a version that stripped out the in-game purchases that the original had relied on (GameSpot; Konami). Apple Arcade is Apple's game subscription service, where titles are available to subscribers without additional purchases.

At the time of its original release, Grimoire of Souls was the first new Castlevania game since 2014's Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 — making it, for a stretch, the only fresh entry in a franchise that dates back to 1986 (GameSpot).

The story follows Genya Arikado — the alter ego of Alucard, the half-vampire son of Dracula — investigating ancient grimoires that have begun to awaken after Dracula's castle was sealed within the solar eclipse of 1999 (Konami). The narrative concluded in 2022 with an update that tied back to the events of 1990's Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, offering new revelations about Dracula's defeat in that classic title (GameSpot).

For fans, the shutdown means the end of the only Castlevania game to appear on Apple Arcade — and another live-service closure in a year that has seen several. Once service terminates on September 3, there will be no way to play Grimoire of Souls, as it was exclusive to Apple's platform and had no standalone release elsewhere.