“Shall We Date?” Announces Big Changes to their Standalone Apps

Paid apps and Free-to-Play apps, some in Store Jar app, closing, other standalone apps on iOS are moving to Dear Otome.

Almost all of their games in standalone applications are being affected. Notice is posted here for more information.

Paid Applications

March 17, 2020 9:00 PM (PST) the following Paid Apps will no longer be accessible

• Shall we date?: Memories Can’t Wait (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Mononoke Kiss (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Magic Sword (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Can’t Say No (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Angel or Devil (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: My Fairy Tales (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Hero in Love (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Lost Island (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Never Look Back (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Scarlet Fate (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Guilty Alice (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Castle Break (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Demons’ Bond (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Scarlet Fate II (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: War of Prayers (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Arabian Dreams (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Eternal Vows (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Princess Arthur (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Teen Samurai (both iOS and Android)

Information

February 19, 2020 9:00 PM (PST): Users will be unable to newly install the application, and coins will no longer be purchasable.
*The application will not be available for re-installation or updates.
March 17, 2020 9:00 PM (PST): Termination of Service

Free to Play Applications

March 24, 2020 9:00 PM (PST) the following Free-to-Play Apps will no longer be accessible.

• Shall we date?: Destiny Ninja (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: My Sweet Prince+ (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Ninja Love+ (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Mononoke Kiss+ (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Angel or Devil+ (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Magic Sword+ (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Scarlet Fate+ (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Ninja Assassin+ (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Lost Island+ (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: My Fairy Tales+ (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: THE NIFLHEIM+ (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Destiny Ninja 2+ (all iOS, Android, and Facebook Canvas)
• Shall we date?: Oz+ (all iOS, Android, and Facebook Canvas)
• Shall we date?: Modern Cinderella+ (all iOS, Android, and Facebook Canvas)
• Shall we date?: We the Girls+ (both iOS and Android)
• Shall we date?: Pirates -Treasured Love in the Ocean- (both iOS and Android)

March 24, 2020 9:00 PM (PST) the following Free-to-Play Apps will no longer be accessible for iOS but will be moved into Dear Otome.

• Shall we date?: Love Tangle+ (iOS only, Android and Facebook Canvas are NOT subject to)
• Shall we date?: Lost Alice+ (iOS only, Android and Facebook Canvas are NOT subject to)
• Shall we date?: Wizardess Heart+ (iOS only, Android and Facebook Canvas are NOT subject to)
• Shall we date?: Blood in Roses+ (iOS only, Android and Facebook Canvas are NOT subject to)
• Shall we date?: Ninja Shadow+ (iOS only, Android and Facebook Canvas are NOT subject to)

Information

February 26, 2020 9:00 PM (PST): Users will be unable to newly install the application, and coins will no longer be purchasable.
*The application will not be available for re-installation or updates.
*The sale of Pirates’ stories has already been terminated since 2018-12-27.

Notes that some of these applications are already inside Story Jar. The iOS only games (Love Tangle+ , Lost Alice+, Wizardess Heart+, Blood in Roses+, and Ninja Shadow+) are being moved into Dear Otome.

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Why is this happening?

While I don’t know 100% why it is happening to SWD now, this was a big thing that started back in 2017.

Around the mid-2017, Apple cracked down on what is referred to as “Cookie Cutter Apps.” So, apps from a company that use the same functioning UI but just have different games plugged into the fall into this category. This also somewhat effected games that were basically the same but in different languages.

Some companies seem to have stopped releasing games all together. Building a “library” app is not an easy feat and most of these companies are, in some ways, indie.

In order to combat this, companies were told to create an all in one app to house their games. Companies with pay-to-play games with seemingly a lot of capital (i.e. Voltage) were able to do this pretty quickly. 

Arithmetic was having A LOT of trouble getting the iOS version of one of their games approved around this time. It ended up being released a little over two months after the Android version and was basically dead on arrival because of it.

OKKO, who has solely free-to-play games, are doing their best, but since their apps were using a platform created by another company (Arithmetic), there were a lot of struggles bringing their games into their all-in-one. This includes the fact that, since Arithmetic probably takes a cut of sales and those sales are run through their app system, moving over paid content probably would have been a HUGE undertaking that a smaller company like OKKO just doesn’t have the capital or the “man power” to do. (I also feel the system could use a lot of work as it seems very bare bones still to me…)

So, this is probably the future of mobile otome as long as everything is 100% the same in the game. Companies need to get on making a library app and they really need to make sure that they give each new game they put out something that makes the game unique.