Here’s Why Apple Killed Game Center in the First iOS 10 Beta Release

In a rare move that could perhaps be alluding to what’s in store for Apple’s long neglected Game Center app, the company appears to have nixed the 5-year-old, standalone gaming hub in the first beta release of iOS 10. This means, quite possibly, that Game Center will also be omitted from the actual, commercialized build of the Cupertino-company’s forthcoming release of iOS 10.

For the record, Apple made no mention of Game Center’s impending demise at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote yesterday — whereat the Silicon Valley tech-giant showcased a slew of updates coming to its entire range of operating systems — including iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS — later on this fall. However, as AppleInsider was able to confirm, not only is the standalone Game Center app absent from the first beta release of iOS 10, but it can no longer be downloaded from the Apple App Store, either.

Originally launched back in 2010, Game Center was Apple’s answer to competing with other social media-style gaming platforms — such as those pioneered by companies like Microsoft, with its Xbox console, and Sony, with its PlayStation. Game Center was a unique way for iOS gamers to connect with their friends and share scores, compare rankings and statistics, and challenge each other at multi-player iOS games.

Unfortunately, however, user interest in Game Center has dwindled down substantially in recent years — which may explain why Apple has apparently jumped ship on the not-so-popular app, instead deciding to invest its monetary and intellectual capacities in more profitable internet services — such as Apple Music and iCloud expansions.

Another potential reason why Apple’s Game Center is being killed off, is that the Cupertino-company plans to invest more resources in its new GameKit development platform.

Either Way, Apple had the following to say about Game Center’s fate in iOS 10, beta 1’s release notes:

“The Game Center app has been removed. If your game implements GameKit features, it must also implement the interface behavior necessary for the user to see these features. For example, if your game supports leaderboards, it could present a GKGameCenterViewController object or read the data directly from Game Center to implement a custom user interface.”

Interesting, indeed.. But, for what it’s worth, Apple’s apparent ousting of Game Center just so happens to follow suit with a similar, much anticipated move the company announced on Monday. Apple revealed at yesterday’s WWDC keynote that it will officially be allowing users to permanently delete first party system apps — such as Compass, Stocks, FaceTime, Podcasts, and others — from their iOS Devices when iOS 10 touches down.

Are you going to miss Game Center on your iPhone or iPad? Let us know in the comments!