GameSparks, a platform providing game makers with easy access to tools like account creation, currency management, in-game achievements, and more will be shutting down in 2022. The service, which was acquired by Amazon in 2017 and folded into their AWS Game Tech toolset, made the announcement back at GDC on July 22nd, 2021. Beginning that same day, no new accounts could be opened with GameSparks and on March 31st, 2022 no new titles can be published with their tools. Finally, on September 30th, 2022 users will no longer be able to log into GameSparks to access their data or APIs.
GameSparks has plenty of resources to help developers transition their tools to other services before these deadlines. But for dormant or strained studios, untimely delistings may be the ultimate fate for their titles. Unfortunately, we can’t identify every game that hooks into GameSparks — recent press releases claim it to be in the thousands — but the company’s showcase page can give you some idea of where to look. Heavily featured are Android and iOS titles but a few console and PC games appear in the list as well: 7 Days to Die, Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor, Disc Jam, Voidrunner, Chime Sharp, and others.
Titles that aren’t updated before GameSparks winds down won’t necessarily be pulled from stores on the same day, but they will lose many of their online features. Chances are, many games won’t be able to launch past a title screen without a fix. With or without an active developer, these faulty titles will eventually be pulled from sale. I’ve added the September 30th date to the Watch List calendar as a potential date when we might start seeing affected titles disappear. Thanks to Wakayama_PT for pointing out the news.