It’s been 8 years since the game Tap Tap Revenge disappeared from the face of the internet. The abrupt departure had the fans stunned, with some even claiming to tap their heads in frustration.
It’s 2022 now and the tapping continues. Only this time, curious surfers are tapping away one common question on their search bar – “will Tap Tap Revenge come back?”
The game had some of the most addictive soundtracks which kept all the users tethered to it for hours. If you didn’t tap dance while listening to Lady Gaga on the game, you haven’t led a good enough life.
For those of you who missed it, you might be interested in a different question altogether – is there a game like Tap Tap Revenge? Fortunately, there are answers to all these questions. So all you need to do is sit back, relax, and leave the storytelling to us.
Oh, also, you might want to grab some tissues because we’re not just dealing with a game that disappeared.
We’re talking about nostalgia: the experience of playing Tap Tap Revenge: Linkin Park Edition or Tap Tap Revenge: Lady Gaga Edition isn’t something that you can replicate.
If there’s one thing that’s immortal, it’s music.
What is the Tap Tap Revenge Series?
For those of you with a terrible childhood who are not familiar with Tap Tap Revenge, it was a massive mobile game developed by Tapulous.
In the game, the task of the player was simple – all they had to do was tap on different colored balls when they scrolled down the bottom of the screen.
The player would earn points if they tapped the ball on the right beat. However, if they do not tap the ball with the beat, they would lose points.
There are some other interesting rules as well. For instance, if you tap the screen while there is no tapper on the beat, you will lose your entire score and go back to square one (or should we say 0?).
Alternatively, the player could also engage in “shakes” during the game. For this, they needed to shake their respective Apple device in the appropriate direction (right, left, or backward) depending on the momentum of the game.
Sounds fun? Now imagine playing and tapping away to your favorite beats produced by some legendary bands like Linkin Park or Coldplay.
That would be worth the money. Of course, the game had both, free and premium versions, available for its loyal users.
The game enjoyed massive success, right after its release in 2008. As per the analysis of Techcrunch, the application was present on over 20% of all devices at that time, a feat that is as impressive as it sounds!
Imagine the popularity of Fortnite or Apex in today’s world. That was Tap Tap Revenge back then. Get the picture, Gen Zs?
But if all was going so well, why did the game disappear all of a sudden?
ALSO READ: What Happened to Ralph Lauren Paints
Tap Tap Revenge Disappears Off the Internet
In 2014, six years after the game first appeared on the internet, Tap Tap Revenge officially closed its servers, leaving a wide array of users confused and angry.
Imagine having a Snapchat streak of 9,999 with your best friend and Evan Spiegel randomly announces that the application is shutting down its servers all of a sudden. You would be angry, hurt, and betrayed.
That’s what happened with Tap Tap Revenge loyalists. It was shut down/ discontinued/ removed, whatever you want to call it. Many people are still looking for the game, some for the nostalgic music, some just to get a taste of those good old days.
The questions keep making rounds on the internet – why did Tap Tap Revenge get taken down? Does Tap Tap Revenge still exist?
We cannot blame the fans for being so desperate for information. After all, the metrics of the game were impressive. People from all over the world downloaded the application on their respective devices. So how come it’s no longer a thing?
Fortunately for the loyalists, the game did have a happy ending. The company decided that it’d moved beyond the summit of what the application could achieve, and decided to stop its endeavors.
While it is a sad story for the lovers of the game and music, it’s at least not something gruesome. It could’ve been worse – it could’ve been forced to shut down by hackers.
We apologize for looking for a light at the end of the tunnel in such a sad situation. But the question still stands, what made the Tap Tap developers decide it’s time to go?
Behind The Scenes – Why Tap Tap Revenge Disappeared
Before we talk about the ending, it’s wiser to first learn about the past. Let’s begin with an interesting question – who made TapTap?
Tap Tap Revenge, the first of its kind, is a music game that Nate True developed on his own. Later, the company Tapulous published it as an application for iOS in 2008.
The game rocked the Apple market even before the company introduced the popular iPhone SDK in the same year.
Soon, Tap Tap Revenge grew in popularity, leading to the propagation of a series. Several new games emerged like the highly popular Tap Tap Revenge: Nine Inch Nails Edition or Tap Tap Revenge: Coldplay Edition.
The game franchise became so loved in the market that it grew beyond the confines of the digital world. Pretty soon, it started launching its own merchandise as well. But we are talking about the game’s heyday. After 6 years of operation, it all came to an end.
Tapulous, on 9 January 2014, made an official announcement through their Facebook page that they are shutting down the beloved game series.
The company then removed all its games and applications from App Store, officially leading to Tap Tap’s demise.
But when did Tap Tap Revenge get removed officially? That happened in February 2014, one month after the announcement.
All the servers of the game were shut down, and thus the legend of Tap Tap blew into the winds and is now only preserved in our memories.
The Reason – Our Speculation on Why the Game Disappeared
We all know that the Tap Tap Revenge series had its fair share of fans. Unfortunately, that wasn’t entirely enough.
As years paced by, the overall customer base of the game grew lesser and lesser. With enough time, Tapulous realized that the most profitable move for them would be to shut down the game forever.
So even though the legendary game was beloved by a lot of fans, eventually there weren’t enough people interested in it.
The company was losing money while trying to run the game as the customers didn’t give any tangible returns on their investments.
So what do you think was the reason behind the dwindling customers of the popular game? After all, something like that cannot just disappear overnight.
Here’s what we think happened:
1. Game Couldn’t Keep Pace With The Music Industry:
If you’re into music, you’d know just how fast-paced the industry is, especially with all the new stars popping up every year.
Want me to prove my point? Just look up the Billboard Top 10 of the year 2015. How many of those songs do you recognize? And how many would be successful in today’s music climate?
The fact is that the music industry moves too fast. One year, it’s the Korean-Pop bands that take the global stage and the next year is for the alternative rock folk. The fact remains that it’s difficult to keep pace with the constantly changing fads.
That’s what happened with Tap Tap Revenge as well. Apart from being an immersive game, its primary selling point was the music associated with it.
People paid big dollars to experience the addictiveness of the game while listening to their favorite artists.
But as years progressed, it became more and more difficult for Tapulous to keep up. With the advent of social media, music took to larger platforms.
People forgot about the game and adapted to the changing lifestyle. Moreover, the big celebrities of the time became inaccessible to the gaming series as well.
No more collaborations with hit music artists meant that fewer and fewer people were interested in trying out a new game. Ultimately, the demand for Tap Tap Revenge faded completely.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Amco Jeans Latest Update
2. The Disney Intervention:
In 2010, Disney acquired Tapulous under undisclosed terms. At this time, the company was doing wonders, solidifying its hold in the world of mobile games by developing bestselling options like Tap Tap Revenue and Tap Tap Revenge.
After the acquisition, however, things took a turn for the worse. When Tap Tap Revenge started underperforming in its subsequent years, Disney decided the game didn’t warrant their support.
There were many other Disney projects that the company studio was focusing on. So all the developers came to the consensus that it’s best to transition away from their Tap Tap Revenge series to concentrate on other projects like the “My?” series.
Moreover, Disney got only a fraction of money from each purchase of Tap Tap Revenge because the multiple labels associated with the game demanded their cuts too.
Thus, from their perspective, it was better to focus on a fresh project that would benefit them the most in terms of money.
SUGGESTED: Zwinky Update
Other Games Like Tap Tap Revenge
Felt like you would get a proper closure after you figure out the reason behind Tap Tap Revenge’s early demise? That never happens.
But you don’t have to move on. All you need to do is find a similar alternative. Here’s what we’d recommend you to try:
1. Cytus:
Developed in 2012, Cytus follows the same rhythm-based concept as Tap Tap Revenge. However, it does not have the extensive song library of the popular iOS classic.
The Taiwanese game developer Rayark launched the application for iOS first. Later, they introduced the game for Android in the same year as well.
While the overall feel of the game is similar, the lack of popular song choices is what irks us the most.
2. Long Live! School Idol Festival:
This one is for Anime and Manga fans. With the growing popularity of Japanese culture across the world, we thought it would be the perfect time to talk about School Idol Festival, another rhythm game series.
Only this time, the songs that you choose will belong to certain anime shows. Moreover, it provides an extensive playing experience that will keep you on the edge for a long time.
3. Deemo:
Another rhythm-based mobile-cum-video game that Rayark developed. Only this time, it’s for multiple platforms including Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, and so on.
The game was officially released in November 2013 and served as an enhanced version of the previous similar games.
Our Verdict
It’s been more than 8 years since we last witnessed the Tap Tap Revenge bandwagon. Everything comes to an end, especially the good things.
People, bathing in tears of nostalgia, are still wondering what went wrong with the once-popular game.
Now, even after knowing the reasoning, we still wonder if we could have saved the cult classic somehow.
In our opinion, it was possible. But the fans would have no part in it. The company could have maneuvered and transitioned along with the music industry. The only way to avoid disappearance is to keep evolving.
The game continued to launch similar versions, and although they were fun, the fans stopped enjoying it after a while.
But we still have to respect Tapulous for making the tough call when the time was right. Most of the other companies would have just kept on releasing more versions of the game to try and milk some money out of the loyalists.
