Pay to progress
2 independent sources agreePay to progress: raised by 15 distinct reviewers (about 1 in 42 reviews we read)
Definition
Advancement or competition is gated behind spending money rather than playing.
Serious warnings 1 confirmed warning. Checked: 634 reviews, the Android app’s code, the store listing and the privacy label.
From our automated analysis, 29 Oct 2026. Every label links to its evidence in the full report below.
This analysis describes version 9.3.5 of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-29 .
The store currently lists version 9.3.7, updated 2026-10-15.








Store screenshots supplied by the developer.
Summoners War: Sky Arena
The legendary turn-based strategy RPG with immersive storytelling — loved by over 300 million Summoners worldwide!
Join the spectacular global war alongside over 1,000 Monsters and experience the ultimate strategic fantasy battle.
The more you fight and refine your perfect strategies, the more your Monsters will grow into cherished companions across the Sky Islands.
[Summoners War: Sky Arena]
Official Community: https://www.facebook.com/SummonersWarCom2us/
▶ Game Features
◆ Stunning Action and Infinite Strategy
Experience dynamic battles in a truly different fantasy world!
Utilize 23 types of Rune Sets, each with unique effects,
and build your own strategy to claim victory.…
From the developer’s store description.
For developers and the curious
The evidence, sources, measurements and versions behind every label above.
Findings that met the published evidence standard.
Pay to progress: raised by 15 distinct reviewers (about 1 in 42 reviews we read)
Advancement or competition is gated behind spending money rather than playing.
Specific evidence of a useful property, within the stated scope.
The developer's store data-safety disclosure states that data deletion can be requested; we have not seen a deletion control in the app's own text
The developer's data-safety disclosure on the store states that users can request deletion of their data, or the app's own text offers a way to delete the account. This restates what the developer declares; it is not a test of whether deletion works. Apple publishes no equivalent disclosure, so on an Apple-only listing only the app's own text can support it.
Open observations that have not cleared the evidence bar.
The app's own text says: "The authority is required to proceed with in-game events and rewards and will not affect calls."
This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.
Advertising volume or placement that interrupts normal use: ads between every action, unskippable or forced full-screen ads.
Package artefact
sha256:c34ee19d9c658c382f99d11272c078d4de6edbaf35171277a8cd6a730526f904The app's own text says: "Customer Support"
This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.
Cancelling the subscription is blocked, hidden, multi-step, or simply does not take effect.
Package artefact
sha256:c34ee19d9c658c382f99d11272c078d4de6edbaf35171277a8cd6a730526f904Sells a randomised reward ("Alipay, Tenpay, bank cards, and carrier pre-paid cards can be used to recharge Lebi.") and states no drop rates or odds anywhere in the app's own text
This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.
The app sells randomised rewards — crates, chests, packs, pulls — and states no drop rates or odds anywhere in its own text, so what the money buys is unknowable before paying.
Package artefact
sha256:c34ee19d9c658c382f99d11272c078d4de6edbaf35171277a8cd6a730526f904The app's own text says: "Unable to enter the game because real name authentication hasn't been completed."
This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.
The core of the app — not extras — sits behind payment, or previously-free function moved behind a paywall.
Package artefact
sha256:c34ee19d9c658c382f99d11272c078d4de6edbaf35171277a8cd6a730526f904The app's own text says: "Unable to connect to the guest account because the selected %s account already has game data. Please log in with another account."
This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.
The app's own screens offer a way past sign-up — guest access, skipping, or browsing before registering — rather than gating the product behind an account. The store's privacy disclosure is checked alongside it: that disclosure is self-reported, so it corroborates this credit rather than establishing it.
Package artefact
sha256:c34ee19d9c658c382f99d11272c078d4de6edbaf35171277a8cd6a730526f904The app's own text says: "The game data can be saved on external storages such as SD memory cards."
This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.
The app's own copy describes working without a connection — offline mode, downloading for offline use, or content saved for later. Shown because readers filter on it; it is a feature, not a fairness property, and never counts for or against an app.
Package artefact
sha256:c34ee19d9c658c382f99d11272c078d4de6edbaf35171277a8cd6a730526f904634 reviews read for this analysis. Each observation keeps the sample and store it was based on.
This game is just a waste of time and money not to mention the lousy summon system that requires you to spend money to get a 5 star summon. pay to win and its not fair games
Great game, however many things could be better. Particularly regarding rune storage (space). There are over 1000 different monsters, most of whom are at least useful in some way. If I wanted to put runes on all of them, I'd need 6000…
bad pay to win game
A sampled review illustrates one person’s experience. It does not establish a finding on its own.
“Not assessed” means we could not measure it. It is never a zero and never a pass.
Android package 9.3.5, scanned 20 Oct 2026. These describe that package, not the current store version.
Supporting measurements: not a complete list of possible harms or positives. Measurement vocabulary 1.4 · how these are measured
This analysis describes version 9.3.5 of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-29 .
The store currently lists version 9.3.7, updated 2026-10-15.
Each store’s release notes, as the developer wrote them. They are the developer’s words, not ours.
No release notes were provided for this version.
No release notes were provided for this version.
No release notes were provided for this version.
summoners-war-google-com-com2us-smon-normal-freefull-google-kr-android-commonAssessed 2026-10-29 from 634 user reviews, the app's package, the store listing and its privacy label.
What the stores publish. Store ratings are the stores’ numbers, not Appworthy’s, and are never averaged across stores.
This assessment is produced automatically. Six independent signals are read — user reviews, SDKs in the app package, the app's own on-screen text, the app manifest, the store listing and the store privacy disclosure — and each candidate finding is filed under the sources that support it.
No charge stands on one kind of evidence — with one published exception. A finding is either a measured fact that anyone can reproduce (an ad SDK is in the package; every recurring plan the store lists is named as weekly, the term read from the purchase names, with a list cut off at the store’s 10-item maximum not assessed; the privacy label omits a tracker we can see), or it is an interpretation — and an interpretation needs independent sources to agree before it reaches the catch list. The exception is a harm only users can see: a charge may publish from reviews alone, as “Reported by N users”, once enough reviewers raise it to clear that charge’s own published bar. That agreement rule is what replaced the human reviewer, not a model’s confidence.
There is no overall score, on purpose. A 0–99 number was published here until 2026-09-15. It was withdrawn because it discriminated too weakly to be the instrument — 44.7% of every pair of apps tied — and because a single number is a verdict where a count is an observation. What publishes instead is a row of measurements, each of which says what was counted and, where we could not look, says that instead.
Findings under One source only are real reports we do not stand behind as findings. They are shown because withholding them entirely would hide a genuine complaint, and labelled because publishing them as charges would be an accusation off a single source.
Write to [email protected], or use the form. Name the finding, the app version and the evidence that needs correcting. Factual corrections are free and never depend on buying anything.