Arcade

Apple Arcade is a new gaming subscription service available on all Mac and iOS devices and will be released this fall / autumn.

This gaming subscription service is unlike it’s competitors Microsoft, Google, Nvidia and Sony who use cloud streaming. Instead this new gaming service is exclusively for titles that can be installed from the iOS or Mac App Stores and used for offline gaming.

Ann Thai (Senior Product Marketing Manager of the App Store) said that Apple Arcade will allow more critically acclaimed games like Monument Valley 2 with amazing stories and original art work. Currently paid games are having difficulty competing with free games and are more difficult to find for users, she said. Apple Arcade is giving developers more freedom to make more interesting and creative games that would have never been possible by the mainstream.

Like Apple News+ this is one subscription offering unlimited game downloads within the Apple Arcade gaming catalogue. Moreover, Apple Arcade is available for family sharing at no extra charge – meaning up to 6 people, can share one subscription much like how Apple Music and Apple News+ works.

Apple is also committed to making its platform private and secure. Unlike free games that are supported with ads or in-app purchases, these games are ad free and require no additional purchases. Apple have promised no ads and it does not allow advertisers to track your data without your consent. They also offer smooth transition between all Mac devices, so if you play a game on iPhone, you can pick up from where you last left off on your iPad or Apple TV etc.

What games will Apple be offering?

Apple is offering over a hundred games (to be expanded) that are unique and only available on Apple devices. Some of these titles include LEGO Brawls, Sonic Racing, Fantasian, Life Like, Overland, The Pathless, Hot Lava and many more. Some of these games are unique story telling games like Where Cards Fall, other games like Beyond a Steel Sky are bringing console game into a mobile immersive environment.

Currently, there have been more than 1 billion users who have downloaded games from the App Store, with nearly 300,000 games available to this date. Apple is aiming to make some of these games available in its Apple Arcade subscription service.

Apple is promising games from big gaming companies such as Bossa Studios, Cartoon Network, SEGA, Lego, Finji, Annapurna Interactive, Giant Squid, Klei Entertainment, Konami, Mistwalker Corporation, Snowman, Ustwo games, and many more. Apple will be contributing to the development costs of creating them. Releases from famous creators like Hironobu Sakaguchi, Ken Wong, Will Wright and many more renowned developers will be making games for this new service.

The concept is that this will allow originality, quality, creativity, fun and will appeal to players of all ages.

Phil Schiller (Senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing for Apple) said:

“We are working with some of the most innovative game developers in the world to create over 100 new and exclusive games to play across iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV. Apple Arcade games will be great for families, respect user privacy and will not have ads or require any additional purchases. We think players of all ages are going to love Apple Arcade.”

There will be 100 new and exclusive games available on Apple Arcade in the fall of this year, so whether you enjoy playing games on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV – you can do all of these with Apple Arcade.

Apple showed off a variety of games at their conference at Keynote March 2019, but the full list of games have not been released to date. Apple Arcade will be released this fall in over 150 countries.  Pricing is to be made available closer to the launch, later this year.