While many might think of The Simpsons primarily as a TV show, the IP has spawned a few beloved video games over the years. Unfortunately, one of the long-standing favorites, The Simpsons: Tapped Out has officially shut down for good as of today. This mobile game has been around for over a decade, giving Simpsons fans their own personal Springfield to manage and maintain. After being removed from the app store in October 2024, the game’s servers fully shut down today, January 24th, 2025.
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The Simpsons: Tapped Out was developed by EA Games, the company behind other life sim-style games including The Sims. Like many free-to-play mobile games, it featured seasonal events that required ongoing maintenance and updates from the developers. The announcement from EA didn’t go into detail about the reasons behind the shutdown, though they did reflect upon the game’s 12-year run with a recap of everything the game and its players enjoyed over the years. They shared that the game received 308 updates during its run, with over 831 characters and nearly 1500 different quests.
Tapped Out isn’t the only major live-service mobile game to hit end of service recently. Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp also shut down in 2024, with a notable difference – the offer to purchase a complete, offline version of the game to keep playing even without live server support. It doesn’t appear that EA intends to offer this option for Tapped Out, which is no longer available as of today even to players who still had the app downloaded after it was delisted in October 2024.
Tapped Out Fans Mourn End of Service for Mobile Game
Though the game likely lost much of its fan base during the 12 year run, many dedicated Tapped Out fans are sad to see the game go. When the delisting and server shutdown were first announced, many were hopeful to see an offline version announced during the gap between delisting and full end of service.
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After over a decade in a life sim centered on rebuilding Springfied, many fans have put a ton of work into crafting their individual worlds. For some, that makes it frustrating to have the game shut down without a backup option like what was offered with Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete. Alas, those virtual Springfields are officially un-reachable as of today when the game is fully unplayable after server shutdown.
Though many fans are mourning the loss of this mobile game, other gamers are thinking about the future. For some, their attention is turned to the future with the hopes that this means another, new Simpsons game might come to fruition. With EA ending service on the app, there’s potential for new licensing agreements to open up between The Simpsons and other developers. Many cite beloved PS2-era title The Simpsons: Hit and Run, which even game designer Joe McGinn would love to see remastered.
As of now, no future plans for further The Simpsons games have been announced by EA or other developers. Either way, the shutdown of The Simpsons: Tapped Out is the end of an era for fans of the TV series and mobile game.
