Dark Horse Digital is shutting down – Comics Beat
The desktop version will remain in operation through the summer, while support for the iOS version will end next monthIn an email sent to users, and a notice posted on the official website, Dark Horse Comics have announced that they are shutting down Dark Horse Digital (DHD) as of today, February 24, 2025, with comics no longer available for purchase on the platform. The email and an FAQ elaborates the desktop version will be “eventually retired,” but continue to “be available at least through summer, 2025,” while iOS readers will have to download any books they bought from it, and its sister app Plants vs. Zombies Comics:Sales through the DHD website, and the Dark Horse Comics and Plants vs. Zombies Comics apps for iOS, ended on that date. Users can continue to log in to the website (digital.darkhorse.com) and read the comics in their bookshelves.Effective March 31, 2025, the Dark Horse Comics and Plants vs. Zombies Comics apps for iOS, will no longer be supported. Users are encouraged to download books in their bookshelves by March 30, 2025. The ability to download books to your device cannot be guaranteed after that date. For access through the website, users without DHD accounts should create one and sync it to the app by March 30, 2025.Whether you are new to Dark Horse Digital or have been with us for years, we appreciate your support and regret the inconvenience this will cause. We know you may have questions about this disappointing news. Additional information, including our refund policy and terms of service, can be found on our FAQ page.Launched in 2011, Dark Horse Digital was one of the oldest still-existing indie digital comics storefronts, even selling virtual copies of Dynamite’s titles at one point. The decision comes a year after the Android version of DHD was shut down, and very shortly after the publisher’s staff was hit by lay-offs.Incidentally, the decision means digital copies of Dark Horse’s comics based on Neil Gaiman‘s works are no longer available for purchase, reinforcing the company’s decision to cut ties with him in the wake of the sexual assault allegations about him earlier this year; however, it is highly unlikely that played any role in this announcement to end their platform.Neil Gaiman’s Dark Horse comics are still available for Amazon/Comixology.I’m more than a bit upset that I will loose access to many comics I bought from Dark Horse. What’s their excuse for not making the comics we purchased available through Amazon/Comixology? Feels like theft on their part no matter what the completely one sided terms of service says.Why would ending their relationship with Gaiman have anything to do with this?So glad I rebought items from them after Amazon torpedoed Comixology…at least they let us download PDFs of certain publishers’ books. And love how companies point to TOS when they break your trust and abandon platforms they convinced you to buy into.I’m never buying anything from Dark Horse Comics again. I’ve bought the bloody comics. Let me download them!This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
