It doesn’t take much to get into retro video games in 2024. Everyone has the hardware in their pocket, for one, and emulators are everywhere. This was particularly true if you’re an Android user, not so much if you are an Apple fan. That’s all about to change. But there’s always a catch when you’re playing in the company’s walled garden.
The folks over at 9to5Mac have noted a change in Apple’s App Store guidelines. One difference is that streaming apps can now direct users outside the company’s ecosystem, the result of a recent EU ruling. In the EU, of course. But there’s one other change — retro game emulators will finally be allowed on the platform.
Retro pirates?
Emulators on iOS are not a new phenomenon. Having them officially available is. Previously, if users wanted to fire up old copies of games that no longer have working hardware, they’d have to side-load apps or jailbreak their iPhones. Apple has confirmed to developers that this no longer has to be the case. Retro (and other) emulators can now be developed and released on the App Store, with a caveat or two.
The company says in its guidelines that developers are “…responsible for all such software offered in your app, including ensuring that such software complies with these Guidelines and all applicable laws.” In other words, actually offering the software (commonly called ROMs) could prove a bit tricky.
It leaves the door open for someone like Sega or Nintendo to release their retro catalogues in emulator format, as if that hasn’t been done to pieces already, but make it impossible for any other offering to support simple downloads. Any apps that sneak past Apple’s front door will likely find themselves being very specific that the software is ‘designed only to play personal backups of legally owned titles for [insert defunct platform here]’. How any retro games get there after the download is something nobody will be able to effectively police.