Apple Arcade is a video game subscription service that, as the name suggests, is owned by Apple. It was launched in September 2019 and offers many exclusive.
A good start in 2019
The service was started with 80 games, some of them exclusive, and is part of a service policy that is very important at Apple today, which, for example, was started in parallel with Apple TV + and offered original content. Anyway, by the time it started we found it pretty interesting as there was an editorial policy that was pretty sane, that is, it was games that had no microtransactions, no similar things, full games and most importantly games can be played offline, all for $ 4.99 per month.
Almost two years later we can ask the question of how the ministry evolved. Today there are more than 180 games including about 30 that were added recently and it is true that it was a large group take with very interesting games. So there are already well-known games like Reigns, Monument Valley, Mini Metro or even Don’t Starve. But there were some interesting new things like a PlatinumGames game called World of Demons or a game by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Final Fantasy called Fantasian. Today it is really a service with lots of games, quality and most importantly games for everyone.
Apple does not report subscription numbers
That’s all very good, but on the business side, we don’t really know where it is as Apple never disclosed subscription numbers. We have absolutely no idea whether Apple Arcade is profitable, especially since we know, on the other hand, that Apple often finances all or part of the development of a game in order to ensure its exclusivity. However, a few months ago Apple realized they had to come up with addicting concept games so they didn’t use that term exactly, but you know what I mean in order to keep their subscribers. This was the case, for example, with the game Grindstone, a particularly impressive Match 3, and that means that we will remain subscribed because from the moment we log out we will no longer have access to the game and the results did not meet their expectations . In my opinion, before it is profitable, Apple Arcade is first and foremost a product that is there for Apple’s branding image, that has to show that it does not forget the video game.
Apple (also) wants to become a service provider
For me, Apple Arcade is really part of the cog in a much bigger machine. Today, of course, Apple knows that it costs a lot of money to buy hardware, such as iPhones, iPads, and even Macs, but it’s a little behind the services. On the music and video side, battling giants like Spotify or Netflix isn’t easy, but today Apple Music is doing very well and most importantly, the company has the financial resources to post there. Services is a sector that the company relies heavily on, particularly thanks to its Apple One subscription. So Apple One is a global subscription that includes Apple Arcade, of course, but also Apple Music, Apple TV + and 50 gigabytes of iCloud storage for $ 14.95 per month. And we firmly believe that Apple wants to highlight this service in order to retain its customers and keep people in its ecosystem.
Video Games and Apple: a Complicated Love Story
In general, it’s true that Apple still has a fairly complex relationship with video games. Historically, especially on the Mac, this has never been suggested. There are almost no video games on the Mac, but conversely, the best mobile games are often or definitely available on iOS and then on Android, even if the two catalogs are globally the same today. There is another area where Apple is difficult to understand: cloud gaming. Because yes, we remind you that today there is no official application of Google Stadia or Xbox Game Pass for iOS. Why ? In large part because Apple has this sick need to control everything on its platform that cloud gaming, which was developed by other companies like Microsoft or Google, doesn’t. It is clear to me that if one day cloud gaming hits iOS it will be through a service that was simply created by Apple. Imagine some kind of subscription we could call Apple Arcade +, plus a selection of streaming Triple-A games from partnerships with other publishers. In any case, of course, we will continue to follow Apple Arcade news and mobile video games in general on iGamesNews.com.
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By Tanabata, Writing from igamesnews.com
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