DENA and Platinum Games' RPG hack and slash game World of Demons has been removed from the App Store.
Platinum's first foray into mobile games was initially available on the iOS App Store in the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia come last June as part of its soft launch phase.
The game received no updates throughout its stay in soft launch and was removed in September 2018.
It should be stated that it isn't uncommon for games to leave soft launch and go offline from app stores to receive major reworks. However, the title has been notably absent for months and some players monitoring the game have claimed it's been canned altogether.
An apparent screenshot was posted on Twitter by one user claiming that the game was coming to an end in October. It's also been alleged that other users have received similar messages in-game.
R.i.P. #WorldofDemons @platinumgames pic.twitter.com/mKEsRIR9lb
— Gardrobe10 (@Gardrobe10) September 26, 2018
PocketGamer.Biz has reached out to both Platinum and DENA on multiple occasions for comment, but no response has been forthcoming on the matter.
Hacked and slashed
Platinum initially revealed its partnership with DeNA back in early April 2018, with World of Demons pencilled in for a summer release on iOS and an Android release for later in 2018.
The game was inspired by Japanese folklore and pitted players against a menagerie of monsters called Yokai. Visually World of Demons will take its cues from traditional Japanese ink-style painting and woodblock prints, which led plenty to draw connections to Clover Studio's Okami.
These links were strengthed somewhat as many of Platinum’s founders had previously worked on Okami before the studio’s closure, so this title was seen as a spiritual successor to the critically acclaimed game.
Gameplay-wise the title appears to harken back to Platinum’s warmly received Nier: Automata with its hack-and-slash mechanics. The moveset encompassed dodging, parrying and sword-based combo attacks. It was also optimised to function with a touchscreen.
