BioShock, which was developed by Irrational Games and published by 2K Games, has not been seen in the Apple App Store since June. The game publisher has finally made the official announcement that it is pulling out Bioshock from the platform.
The game, which debuted in August 2007, is one of the highest-rated first person shooter titles in gaming history on both PC and console. It was initially released for Windows and Xbox 360.
BioShock was only ported to the PlayStation 3 in October the following year. It wasn't until October 2009, however, that Feral Interactive ported it to Mac OS X.
The iOS port was released in August 2014. However, it was nowhere to be found after the iOS 8.4 release.
After the recent launch of iOS 9, 2K Games confirmed that it pulled out BioShock from the App Store and game database. As expected, there was a huge backlash from those who paid for the game. Adding fuel to the fire was a misleading statement that a 2K Games representative gave in response to a Touch Arcade community member.
"Unfortunately, you are correct we don't currently have this game for mobile gaming anymore, which I know can be frustrating. The removal of the game was a developer decision. This happens occasionally, but thankfully not often," wrote Kaitlyn T., a 2K Games customer service representative. "I'm terrible sorry for this, if you purchased BioShock for iOS and you would like a refund. Apple will be of great assistance. Since the transaction wasn't completed through us, we cannot perform a full refund back to you. However, you will be able to complete a refund with Apple."
The misleading response also led to misguided conclusions about BioShock's future with iOS. In an effort to rectify the situation, 2K Games sent out a followup statement that straightened the details of how it will handle the game on the mobile platform.
"2K recently provided inaccurate information to customers surrounding removal of BioShock for iOS from the App Store," 2K Games stated. "BioShock is currently incompatible with iOS versions 8.4 and higher, and as such, is temporarily removed for purchase from the App Store. 2K is fixing the compatibility issue, and when resolved, will place BioShock back on the App Store for purchase. Customers who already own BioShock may continue playing the game with iOS version 8.3 or earlier. 2K regrets the initial customer service error and looks forward to delivering an updated version of BioShock for iOS in the near future."
Furthermore, BioShock for iOS will only be compatible with iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPad 4, iPad Mini 2 and iPad Air provided that the devices are running on iOS 8.3 or lower. It is not supported on any other device aside from the listed ones.
To be fair to BioShock and 2K Games, iOS 9 seems to be having compatibility issues with a number of other games. Aside from BioShock, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite also seems to be having problems with the latest iOS version.
With the headaches that came with iOS 9, an iOS version for the more recent titles from 2K Games, such as BioShock Infinite, should not be expected. Apple's current mobile device offerings cannot handle it anyway.
