A move like this would make sense. Arcade’s business model revolves around people subscribing to get continuous access to (hopefully) quality games free of in-app purchases and ads. If games finish too soon or simply don’t keep people interested after the initial rush, they may not wait to see if there will be more interesting games in the pipeline. It’s not clear how well Arcade is doing at this point, although the addition of another trial month led some to speculate that demand wasn’t as strong as initially hoped.

Unfortunately, those cancellations may have created problems for developers. Some of those with canceled contracts faced “financial woes,” according to the sources. While Apple apparently paid for any development milestones and said it would help with future titles, the judgment call is a reminder that Arcade developers are ultimately dependent on Apple’s decisions for their livelihoods.