Gameloft will end online services for Minion Rush on January 29, 2027, and pull the endless runner from download storefronts three months earlier, on October 30, 2026 — the same date in-app purchases are disabled and content updates stop.

The shutdown timeline gives the studio's live-ops and community teams a defined wind-down calendar. A farewell event runs from October 1 to October 28, 2026, distributing exclusive in-game rewards before the title enters what Gameloft calls its final service period. After January 29, 2027, players who already have the game installed retain access to an offline version, but every connected feature goes dark: live events, leaderboards, cloud saves, social features and online account data all cease to function.

What changes for players

The transition rewrites the game's monetization and progression mechanics in its final months. Gameloft says it will adjust progression and unlock requirements so content becomes faster and easier to obtain, and some previously premium content may become free or more accessible. The company encourages players to spend remaining in-game currency and unlock content before the cutover.

The offline build is a reduced product. Soft in-game currency will still exist in the offline version, but with fewer sinks to spend it on. Progress, purchases and items cannot be transferred to any other game.

Refund policy

Players who spent money before the shutdown should not expect recourse by default. Purchases made before the shutdown will not be eligible for refunds, except where required by applicable law or platform policies — meaning Apple's App Store and Google Play refund frameworks, not Gameloft, will effectively govern most consumer disputes. Gameloft has published a full FAQ covering the wind-down.

What it means for the business

Sunsetting a licensed runner with a three-month commerce window is a deliberate sequence: revenue from in-app purchases continues until October 30, 2026, while the October farewell event is designed to sustain engagement — and likely conversion on remaining currency — through the final quarter of monetization. Disabling downloads on the same day purchases stop prevents new installs from entering a game whose paid economy is closing.

The offline build also matters operationally. Rather than removing the game outright, Gameloft is shipping a degraded-but-playable version, a pattern that softens community backlash for family-facing licensed titles while eliminating server and live-ops costs from February 2027 onward.

Why watch this space

Minion Rush launched in 2013 as a paid title and spent over a decade as a free-to-play live-service product under Gameloft's Universal and Illumination license. Its retirement narrows Gameloft's licensed mobile portfolio and raises the question of whether the company redirects live-ops resources toward its remaining titles or new projects. Watch how the adjusted progression economy performs during the October farewell window — engagement and spend patterns there will signal how players value an end-of-life mobile game.