Tag: purchased

Categories
Ξ TREND

Although it can be played “for free”, Palworld is being purchased so much that Steam has crashed

The highly anticipated Palworld has just been released on Steam in early access format, and its launch is so successful that it has ended affecting the payment gateway and even the platform’s store tab. On X (formerly Twitter) and the game’s discussions section, some users share photos or screenshots with error messages when swiping the credit card.

“An unexpected error has occurred. Your purchase has not been completed. Please wait a few minutes and try again” reads the message, which appears occasionally when a game with enormous scope is released: it happened with Cyberpunk 2077, for example. Illustratively, Palworld occupied the Fifth place on Steam’s most wanted games list; and it was not possible to reserve it before this day. Its price, in fact, was a mystery until last week.

Although the pre-order issue has undoubtedly had a lot of influence on the “funnel” caused by Palworld, there is actually also another factor that should have just the opposite effect: the game is launched on Game Pass in parallel with its premiere on Steam. Considering that many already pay for the Xbox subscription service on a routine basis, it would be logical that it would move a very high percentage of potential buyers — and it probably has.

Palworld, a new success on Steam

Although at the time of writing these lines Palworld is only less than three hours old, SteamDB already has truly enviable activity figures: 235,564 simultaneous players, and counting. Those numbers are similar to those of triple-A productions in the style of Destiny 2 or Rust.

Categories
Ξ TREND

Google may remove purchased apps from your Android devices


When you purchase an app or game digitally, you do not own it. This means that the project can be taken away from you at any time, usually without compensation.

One such case of game seizure occurred with Android users who purchased the role-playing game Wayward Souls. Released in 2014 for Android, Wayward Souls is a classic action RPG with similarities to Secrets of Mana and other classics.

The game is still available on other platforms, but when you check for availability in the Google Play Store, you will see a 404 error. The game has disappeared not only from the Play Store, but also from users’ devices thanks to Google’s remote, ahem, removal feature.

Android Police estimates that as of June 2022, more than 300 games have been removed from the Play Store and user devices.

Considering there are millions of apps and games available for Android, this may seem like a minor issue to many. In some cases, Google removes apps and games that it determines are harmful or otherwise problematic. In the case of Wayward Souls and some others, this does not seem to be related.

Google’s policy is not entirely clear on this issue. Delisting can occur when developers withdraw their games or apps, or when apps or games violate developer policies or distribution agreements.

Although Google claims that Android users can continue to use their games and applications after they are removed from the app store, this apparently is not entirely true. Refunds are offered only in certain cases. This includes situations where someone else has made a purchase using a user’s account, or where users report unauthorized charges to their cards or other payment methods. Android users in the EU and UK can also receive a refund within 48 hours of making a purchase.

In other words, buyers of Wayward Souls will not receive compensation for the removal of the game from the catalog.

Unlike PCs or consoles, there is no way to buy physical Android games or apps. The only option is digital purchase through Google Play or any other available store. It is unlikely that the purchase will be deleted, but this can happen and, as we see, has already happened.

It is also worth noting that Google will not be able to remove applications or games if Google Play is not installed on the device or the projects were downloaded and installed from third-party sources.