Apple is reportedly preparing to remove thousands of games from the App Store in China in July, taking down listings for iOS games that operate in the country without gaining approval from the country's regulators.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media that Chinese gaming revenue is an important part of Apple's income for the App Store, but the restrictive regime in the country makes earning money a challenge for foreign developers. In the latest move that affects external developers, Apple will allegedly be removing listings for games from the regional App Store covering China, preventing those that do not have regulatory approval from being bought or played.

Previously Apple removed apps for Quartz and police monitoring during the 2019 Hong Kong protests, and pulled multiple VPN apps in 2017 that may have been used to get around China's "Great Firewall."