Disappearance of ‘Pandemic’ explained

A couple of weeks ago the digital version of the ‘Pandemic’ board game was unexpectedly pulled from all major platforms such as Steam as well as the Apple and Google mobile app stores with seemingly no explanation. In an email to a customer, the game’s developers, Asmodee, said the decision was made “for a multitude of reasons that they cannot disclose.”

This prompted many to speculate as to the actual reasons for the decision – some thought it might have been a licensing issue, some guessed it had something to do with the impact of Covid-19, while others believed the developers wanted to rebuild the game for more profit.

Asmodee, along with publisher Z-Man, have now come out with an official follow-up statement, as reported by IGN, saying the decision to pull ‘Pandemic’ was made in light of concerns about the quality and reliability of the digital version of the game. 

“The Pandemic app was released 9 years ago, and we no longer feel the current quality and reliability of the game is on par with what Pandemic deserves on digital platforms,” Asmodee said. “The time has come to make way for the digital future of Pandemic.”

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‘Pandemic’ mysteriously disappears

The statement went on to clarify that current owners of ‘Pandemic’ will still be able to download and play the game, while a multiplayer version remains available on Asmodee’s ‘Board Game Arena’ website. 

“We are truly thankful to the whole Pandemic community for their awesome support and involvement over these last years. Stay tuned!” Asmodee concluded.

It’s still unclear what the future holds for the digital version of the ‘Pandemic’ board game, however, the “Stay tuned” ending of the statement seems to imply that the game might not be out for good.