Whenever I update my iPhone and iPad each year for major iOS and iPadOS releases, the first thing I do is check if Capcom and Square Enix games still work. This is because both publishers have brought some superb classics and new games to iOS over the years but support for new versions of iOS and iPadOS is hit or miss with them. Last night, Capcom pulled Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice ($0.99), Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies ($0.99), and Ghost Trick (Free) from the App Store for “various reasons" the company announced. Kevin MacLeod (previously at Gamevice) says this has to do with the in app purchases to unlock more content going through but the content not unlocking. I can’t verify this myself because I own all the content in all three games already and have them downloaded. Capcom also said that there is no timeframe for the return but they will support iOS 14 when they do come back. I have all three games installed on my iPad Pro on iOS 14.3 and they seem to run just like they did over a year ago. This isn’t the first time Capcom has pulled Ghost Trick either. It got a surprise update back in 2018 for iOS 11 and iPhone X device support.

Hopefully iOS 14 support from Capcom means the three games will fully support modern screen sizes when they return. As of now, if you already own the games, they are still available in your purchase history. Both Ace Attorney games that have been pulled on iOS are still available on Android. Ghost Trick on the other hand, was only released on iOS after the Nintendo DS debut. Capcom has such a rich back catalogue of classics so it is disappointing to not see more of them make their way to modern platforms including mobile and newer consoles. I’m still annoyed that the only modern release of Monster Hunter Freedom Unite isn’t available for sale anymore. Hopefully the trio of games returns in the near future. I’m also curious if Capcom will do another Ace Attorney collection with 4,5,6 that all released on mobile and look pretty good on modern iOS devices. Did you recently play Ghost Trick on iOS or did you originally play it on Nintendo DS?

Update: Added possible reason the games were pulled.