Long-running game The Simpsons: Tapped Out has shut down after nearly 13 years.
READ MORE: The never-ending future of ‘Stardew Valley’ – and what creator Eric Barone did next
The Simpsons: Tapped Out was a free-to-play mobile game that saw players tasked with rebuilding Springfield after Homer Simpson accidentally causes a nuclear meltdown that destroys the city. It originally launched in 2012 and by 2014, and generated £97million in revenue.
In September, developers EA announced it had made the “difficult decision” to shut down servers. “The decision to end our 12-year journey is an emotional one. We have delighted in bringing this game to you, the fans, and seeing how you’ve each built your own beloved versions of Springfield.
“It has been a remarkable journey, and we are grateful that we’ve been able to deliver 308 updates, 831 characters and including today’s final farewell 1,463 questlines,” they wrote.
Goodbye Old Friend #TheSimpsons #TappedOut #TheSimpsonsTappedOut pic.twitter.com/lLCm2N822p
— kotulp (@kotulp) January 25, 2025
In-app purchases were stopped the same day, with The Simpsons: Tapped Out removed from app stores in October. On Friday (January 24), the servers were finally switched off and fans have been flooding the official subreddit with final screenshots of their cities as well as reflecting on their time with the game.
“I’m surprisingly bummed about this. It’s just been a little part of every day and I think it’s going to be an adjustment period. Damn.” Man, I’m devastated,” one fan wrote on Reddit. “13 years and it’s just going to be gone. I was 15 when I originally started playing, and I played daily when I had to move to a different state in high school,” said another.
“I didn’t think I’d be so emotional about it,” added another. “Then I remembered I had been playing it for a year when my grandma had passed. We had spent the previous year finding her a good assisted living place because her dementia was so bad. After she passed I escaped to Springfield & started playing around with the retirement home. Now, for the last decade I have used this to build the senior living center that every grandparent deserves. I didn’t think I’d be fighting tears over this.”
Goodbye The Simpsons Tapped Out. Played it pretty much everyday since it launched in 2012. Gonna miss my version of Springfield that I spent so much time building. pic.twitter.com/naFm2ljaW6
— Steven (@vivalaush) January 25, 2025
I had this game on my phone longer than any other app ever released. Good bye The Simpsons: Tapped Out pic.twitter.com/D0aKIcYBv1
— SoSo (@so77) January 21, 2025
One Last MonoRail Ride Before Shut Down Simpsons Tapped Out pic.twitter.com/X7xdScfCLh
— THORNx (@THORNxOfficial) January 24, 2025
13 years of The Simpsons Tapped Out vanished in a fraction of a second rest easy prince pic.twitter.com/dpB3VEZXJH
— Dapper Raptor (@DapperRaptor33) January 25, 2025
Tapped Out is gone. pic.twitter.com/ZcUvQsBD2q
— The Green Kasey (@RawbertBeef) January 24, 2025
Not all hope is lost though, as some fans are also currently developing a way for the game to live on via private servers. Other hopeful fans have suggested the shut down of Tapped Out means another studio has the license for The Simpsons, which might lead to a remake of Hit & Run.
In other news, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has responded to rumours a number of Xbox classics could be making their way to the Nintendo Switch 2: “Our strategy is to allow our games to be available”
The post Fans react as ‘The Simpsons: Tapped Out’ shuts down after 12 years: “Good night, sweet prince” appeared first on NME.
