Big Fish's first-of-its-kind subscription-based iOS games platform pulled by Apple

Just days after obtaining approval from Apple for its subscription-based gaming platform, Seattle-based publisher Big Fish Games has seen it pulled from the App Store.

The service had been available since November 18, and would have been the first iOS-based games subscription service.

It would have provided subscribers with access to dozens of games for a monthly fee of $4.99, to rise next year to $6.99.

Back and forth

"We were notified that the app was removed," said Big Fish founder Paul Thelen.

"We're trying to follow up with Apple to try to figure out what happened."

Thelen confirmed to Bloomberg that his company had been working with Apple for several weeks to ensure that it had met the Cupertino firm's stringent submission requirements.

The service's press release, which was due to be sent out today (November 24) had also seen approval from Apple.

Unconvinced?

In an earlier interview, Thelen had revealed that Apple was not initially convinced that a subscription service would work.

"It took longer than usual to be approved. They needed to be convinced there's a reason to charge customers every month," he said.

[source: Bloomberg]